Lincoln-Way D210 to Host Forum for Gardeners

Get gardening tips from the University of Illinois Will County Master Gardeners on Tuesday, May 7.

Former L-Way Teacher Up on Threat Charge Needs Psych Exam: Lawyer

Former Lincoln-Way teacher Ryan Gardner will be examined to see if he was legally insane when he allegedly made threats against district officials.

A former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher charged with threatening school district officials may have been legally insane at the time of the incident, his lawyer suggested during an arraignment Friday morning in Will County court. Ryan Gardner, 40, most recently a resident of downstate Danville, has been jailed since Jan. 16 on a felony charge of making a telephone threat. Prior to his being processed at the Will County jail, Gardner was receiving psychiatric care at University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. He had checked himself into the hospital voluntarily. Gardner was hit with the felony charge after he allegedly made a Dec. 6 telephone call to Lincoln-Way School District Deputy Superintendent Thomas Eddy. About a week after …

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Ann C. Piasecki

12:34 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Hi Folks, Patch has to be careful on the language. Vulgarity is not allowed.   more ›

Glory Days

Former Marian Catholic Standout Marable Happy to See Dave Mattio Reach Football Coaching Milestone

What's he doing now? Marian's all-time leading rusher, Terence Marable, played at Illinois before joining the working world.

Marian Catholic football coach Dave Mattio earned his 250th career victory Friday when the Spartans defeated Bloom 21-13. One person certainly not surprised by the impressive accomplishment is 1994 Marian graduate Terence Marable, who helped the Spartans win a state championship in 1993. “I love Dave Mattio,” Marable said. “Being a young man, I very much enjoyed playing for him and having him mentor us. He was a great leader for the team, and I can’t say enough about him. I enjoyed the time I got to play under his tutelage.” Mattio, who has coached Marian since 1976, has a career record of 250-133 in 36 seasons. He played a role in Marable earning a scholarship to the University of Illinois. Marable was highly recruited out of high school …

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L-W East Football Coach Winning the Bigger Game

As playoffs approach Rob Zvonar sets his own rules, builds long-lasting relationships with his players and keeps his perspective on coaching, football and life.

On a dark day in mid-October, the man standing in the center of Lincoln-Way East’s defensive huddle looks like an ordinary football coach. Rob Zvonar is dressed for the part, wearing royal blue and black athletic gear, the colors true to his school. The layers are designed to keep rain and chill out. What he lets in is most important here. The questions from his players in a brief wrap-up session on the south end of East’s TurfField are evidence of a commonplace dialogue in Zvonar’s classroom. He is an extraordinary individual, one who teaches life lessons along with football skills, not in a classroom room with desks lined neatly in rows, rather his is canvas and easel that stretches 53 1/3 yards across and 120 yards in length, sideline-…

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Glory Days

Former H-F Gymnastics Standout Derek Hartmann Relishes Being Doctor in Hometown

What is he doing now? Homewood-Flossmoor gymnastics career led Derek Hartmann to become a chiropractor and to open The Hart Wellness Center.

During his gymnastics career, Derek Hartmann occasionally would visit the local chiropractor in Flossmoor. Those visits sparked an interest in the 1998 Homewood-Flossmoor graduate. “I went to my first chiropractor when I was 14,” Hartmann said. “I went to Dr. David Parish in Flossmoor and would get adjusted before gymnastic practice from time-to-time. I would just hang out there and chat with him sometimes. I would walk out of his office feeling good and he really helped me in gymnastics. He was basically a mentor to me growing up.” Hartmann, who captured two all-around state titles and led the Vikings to a state championship in 1997, walked on to the gymnastics team at the University of Illinois, but only competed during his freshman …

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Glory Days

H-F Great Okorafor Transforms From Promising Athlete to Award-Winning Author

Where is she now? Paralysis forces former Homewood-Flossmoor tennis standout Okorafor to give up competitive sports and change gears.

Nnedi Okorafor has a difficult time watching tennis. Once a nationally ranked player herself with aspirations of a professional career, the 1992 Homewood-Flossmoor graduate is now an award-winning author of fantasy and speculative fiction books. While flourishing in her current career, the journey to that path remains a fresh and painful memory. Okorafor was a standout tennis and track and field athlete at H-F, despite dealing with scoliosis. Then, while a freshman tennis player at the University of Illinois, doctors informed her that she needed a spinal fusion and there was just a one percent chance of paralysis stemming from the surgery. Despite the favorable odds, she came out of the surgery paralyzed from the waist down, crushing her …

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German Teacher, U of I Student Inspire Each Other

Mokena's Zachary Grotovsky says hIs goal is to become a high school German teacher, and he thanks L-W instructor Amy Ficarello for instilling that love of the language.

Zachary Grotovsky is a motivated man. Recently, the University of Illinois student and Mokena resident had an award named for him after he raised more than $155,000 for fundraising foundation where he's worked for the past five years to earn money for school-related expenses. But Grotovsky's real passion that keeps him motivated is the German language. He is taking graduate-level German courses even though he doesn't receive his bachelor's degree until May and has studied in Austria for year. Grotovsky  hopes to use his degree and experiences to teach German at the high school level. And he credits his enthusiasm to his high school German teacher, Amy Ficarello. “I had to take a language, but I wanted to do something different,” the …

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