TV chef visits students, new principal in Evergreen Park, and more – Chicago Tribune

Chicago-based chef Camerron Dangerfield visited Rich Township High School to share his Chicago style techniques and flavoring tips with culinary students last week. The arrival of the two-time Food Network winner was a surprise to students in culinary classes, one of the newest programs at the school.

School officials said guests such as Dangerfield offer examples of how people from various backgrounds have gained prominence in their fields through extensive training and by pushing boundaries.

“We want to thank Chef Dangerfield for taking the time to come teach our students about his journey as a chef and how to create their own. Our culinary students see a long-term future in serving others, and food is a beautiful way of doing it. It was a teaching moment our students will never forget,” said Principal Lynn Fields Jr.

Evergreen Park Community High School has hired Matthew Dugan as its next principal. Dugan’s appointment was made official during the Tuesday night meeting of the Evergreen Park Community High School Board of Education.

Dugan will become EPCHS principal on July 1, 2023, upon the retirement of current principal Bill Sanderson.

Dugan has been assistant principal at J. Sterling Morton West High School in Berwyn since July 2020. Before moving to Morton West, Dugan was a dean at Morton East High School in Cicero. He’s also been an administrator at Association House High School/El Cuarto Año in Chicago and Hillcrest High School in Country Club Hills and was a teacher at Jane Addams Alternative High School in Chicago.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Saint Xavier University in 2008 and a master’s degree from Concordia University in 2012, and is completing his doctoral program from the University of St. Francis.

Students at the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. School for Exceptional Children are able to spend a little more time researching careers, creating resumes and participating in interactive lessons with teachers on Smart Boards, thanks to a donation from the Orland Township Highway Department.

The highway department routinely donates refurbished tablets and iPads to St. Coletta’s of Illinois through its E-Works recycling program, putting more technology in the hands of students and adults with developmental disabilities.

“Our students and Community Day Services participants wouldn’t have nearly as much access to technology without the Highway Department’s support,” said St. Coletta’s Executive Director Annette Skafgaard.

The Orland Township Highway Department offers various recycling services to its residents, including electronic recycling. Some of the computers, tablets and iPads that residents drop off at the facility on Wolf Road are refurbished and distributed to organizations like St. Coletta’s of Illinois, a nonprofit organization that provides educational and vocational training services to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

At Kennedy School, refurbished iPads are helpful when working with students with communication needs, said Principal Dawn Angelini. The refurbished tablets are useful in the school’s computer classroom where students can access IXL lessons (a personalized digital learning space), work on career and job searches, write resumes and inventory items for the school’s central purchasing program.

“Before, students had to take turns using a single tablet to run inventory,” Skafgaard said. “Now, they can learn how to pull orders, fill orders and inventory the remaining product together.”

The Consolidated High School District 230 Board of Education unanimously appointed new administrators at Victor J. Andrew High School in Tinley Park. Kelli Lattyak was named associate principal for Instruction and Kristin Baker as the division chair for English, English Learners, Music and Media.

Now the Math and Business division chair at Andrew, Lattyak previously was Math Department supervisor at Bremen High School in Midlothian and a math teacher at Tinley Park High School from 2009-2018.

Baker has been a dean at Andrew since 2007 and before that taught English at the school.

The Shepard High School Choir Program is organizing its one-day Mattress Fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 25 in the gymnasium at the school, 13049 S Ridgeland Ave., Palos Heights.

Now in the fundraiser’s second year, the gym will be transformed for one day into a mattress showroom. There will be 30 mattress styles on display in all sizes in styles for customers to try, priced below retail. Adjustable power bases, premium pillows, bed frames, and mattress protectors will be available as well. The brands include Simmons Beautyrest, come with full factory warranties and are made to order. Delivery is available.

The mattress fundraiser is set up through Custom Fundraising Solutions, which has been conducting the sales throughout the country since 2005 and now works with 3,000 schools. Company officials said the event helps schools raise thousands of dollars in just one day.

More information is at bit.ly/beds4shepardchoir23.

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