Teens Giving Back Across Southland Saturday

Charitable efforts conceived and run by teens are happening in Orland Park, Palos Hills, Tinley Park, Frankfort, Mokena and New Lenox on Saturday for Global Youth Service Day.

Teens across the south suburbs will be taking part in an array of charitable service efforts Saturday. Staff at The Bridge Teen Center in Orland Park decided to put a challenge to local teens not just to participate in service projects, but also to design and oversee them too. With 27 projects happening within 50 miles of Chicago, including 11 in the south suburbs, Global Youth Service Day will go into action Saturday. “I’m really excited for such a collaborative effort,” said Jenn Jones, program associate at The Bridge. “It’s really been interesting to see them decide how to take charge, cut aspects, or add them, and craft their focus onto a main point, a main goal they want to achieve. They are very organized. We hope this will be the …

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Teen with Down Syndrome Becomes Eagle Scout Years Before Most

Frankfort Square resident Adam Sekula recently received Eagle Scout status at age 16.

Lincoln-Way East High School sophomore Adam Sekula, 16, recently received his Eagle Scout status—two years before most scouts achieve the honor.  Adam’s achievements are particularly impressive considering he earned his Eagle Scout rank under distinct circumstances: Adam has Down syndrome. “He is just focused and determined,” said Adam’s mother, Marlene. According to the Boy Scouts of America, only 5 percent of the nearly 850,000 Boy Scouts across the nation earned the prestigious Eagle Scout rank last year. Adam began scouting in first grade as a Tiger Cub and he hasn’t stopped since. In 2008, he earned the Cub Scout Arrow of Light Award and was declared Outstanding Cub Scout of the Year in his troop. Over the years, Adam’s scoutmasters …

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The Sports Report

L-W East Football Little Guy Langenderfer Making All the Big Hits

Lincoln-Way East senior Kyle Langenderfer is an undersized football linebacker and state champion wrestler. He is also a leader of a Griffin team that is 4-0 heading into Friday night's showdown at Sandburg.

At one point in the fourth quarter of Lincoln-Way East’s 35-20 football victory over Homewood-Flossmoor, Griffin linebacker Kyle Langenderfer cut down Viking back Taje Smith just before he squirted loose in the middle of the field. Smith picked himself up and patted Langenderfer on the top of his helmet, then returned to the H-F huddle. One little guy was showing another a bit of respect. Smith, a 5-foot-7, 160-pound speedster, scored two second-half touchdowns for the Vikings. Langenderfer enjoyed the last laugh, though. He is a 5-8, 150-pound package of what making the most of  the least is all about, a football hitting machine and IHSA state champion wrestler. Langenderfer, a senior linebacker and football co-captain for East, was in on…

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L-W East Athletic Director Brost Leaves Indelible Footprint in the Sand

When Lincoln-Way East first opened its doors, athletic director Dave Brost set out to assemble a championship team. He is retiring this month after spending 13 years on the job and helping put the Griffins on the Illinois athletic map.

Dave Brost didn’t write the book on how to be a successful high school athletic director. He learned the job as he went along. Brost, 62, is retiring in May after working for 19 years as an athletic director, the last 13 at Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankfort. During that time, he has guided one of the most successful and most diverse athletic programs in Illinois. East has won four state championships during his tenure and captured eight first- or second-place trophies in IHSA state tournament competitions. The Griffins have gone from a what—what’s a Griffin? Answer: A mythological creature with the head of an eagle the body of a lion.  To a who: East teams have become fixtures at the top of many state-wide polls since then-coach …

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Mokena Girl, 9, Shaving Her Head for Cancer Research

Lauren Peterson, 9, of Mokena, will be shaving her head this Friday for a St. Baldrick's Day fundraiser for cancer research. Help her reach her fundraising goals.

Come Saturday morning, 9-year-old Mokena resident Lauren Peterson will be bald. And she couldn't be happier. The Mokena Intermediate School fourth-grader will be getting her head shaved at a St. Baldrick's Day event at Gatto's in New Lenox. The charity raises money for cancer research by getting volunteers to shave their heads. "My friend did it last year. I didn't know about it until then and I thought it sounded cool," she said. Donate to Lauren Peterson's St. Baldrick's Day fundraising efforts. Lauren said she's doing it to honor a few family members who have faced or are facing cancer, but also for Mackenzie W., a Missouri girl who has battled and beat cancer three times. Mackenzie, who is undergoing treatment for the fourth time, will…

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Stuffed Love: Stuffed Animals Sewn Into Hope for Needy

Southland's Greatest Person of the Day: Two Mother McAuley High School freshmen took a whimsical idea to sew stuffed animals into a memorable philanthropic effort.

Art Helps Mokena Teen Handle Autism

Alex Joss, 13, of Mokena, has been drawing since he was 2 years old as a way to calm himself. Some of his drawings will be on display starting next week at a student show in Frankfort.

A 2 year old playing with a Magna Doodle is nothing new. A 2 year old producing recognizable drawings with one is. That's what Laurel Joss found after giving her son the Fisher-Price drawing toy—recognizable pictures. Soon, Alex Joss was drawing everything, from his preschool teachers to family members to buildings around him. Alex Joss, now 13, of Mokena, suffers from autism, a developmental disorder that affects social and communication skills. "He kind of has an idiosyncratic way of communication," Laurel Joss said. The Summit Hill Junior High School seventh-grader has difficulty interacting with people, often pulling inside himself when situations become too stressful. And then there's his drawing. "I think it relaxes him," Laurel Joss…

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'We're Not Heroes': Local Teens Humble About Helping Fight Fire

A group of Lincoln-Way East High School friends helped a Frankfort family Friday, alerting them their house was on fire and trying to put out the flames. But they say their actions weren't anything special, just what neighbors do.

The boys in this story have been recognized as part of the Greatest Person of the Day feature on Huffington Post, a feature that spotlights ordinary and extraordinary people in Patch communities whose acts of courage, determination, volunteerism and compassion have made a difference in their towns. These are people who inspire and energize others to strengthen their communities and improve lives. It was fairly typical for an after-school Friday at the Dawson house. Typical meaning the house on Mulberry Court was packed with teenagers, friends of the Dawson boys--Todd, 18; Dustin, 17; and Mike, 15, all Lincoln-Way East High School students. "They hang here," said Julie Dawson, mother of eight. "I let them come to my house because I know …

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Her Toy Story: Local Woman's Personal Struggle Becomes an Uplifting Mission

When her 7-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia almost 20 years ago, Colleen Kisel's life was upended. As she helped him fight, she found new purpose in her life at the Treasure Chest Foundation.

They have just about run out of room. The boxes lining the shelves at Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation are bursting with Barbies, Hot Wheels and Candyland. With Director Colleen Kisel leading the charge, the foundation is months away from moving to a 3,600-square-foot facility three times the size of its current home. It's a far cry from the foundation's original location—Kisel's garage. Fifteen years ago, Kisel dreamed up an organization that provides children undergoing cancer treatments with much-needed distraction and levity. After watching her 7-year-old son Martin undergo four years of treatment for leukemia, she learned firsthand the role a toy could play. Toys helped him through 18 spinal taps and nine bone marrow …

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Caitlin McMahon: L-W East Basketball Standout Gives Her Best Off the Court

Senior forward Caitlin McMahon works hard to snare rebounds on the court and makes a difference in her community, too.

Lincoln-Way East girls basketball standout Caitlin McMahon holds single-game and single-season school records in rebounding. She also holds the reaction to an act of kindness dear to her heart. McMahon lit up the eyes of children celebrating a birthday at the Daybreak Center in Joliet when she presented them with ice cream treats and stuffed animals on one of her volunteer visits to the center with a church youth group. “We play with the kids,” said McMahon, a 6-foot senior forward who recently signed to play college ball at Saint Xavier University. “Many of them are dropped off by single moms. It’s sad to see the situation they’re put in at such a young age. "But it’s rewarding, too. It was one of the girls’ birthdays. We gave her a …

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