College Credits: District 202 Alum Lands Job At Big Ten School

PLAINFIELD, IL — We're keeping track of all the major higher education accomplishments of students in the area. Send your submissions to emily.rosca@patch.com.

Plainfield South graduate has taught at District 202 for 3.5 years

Ryan Murray graduated from Plainfield South High School in 2017 and in 2021 from Concordia University Chicago, where he played football all four years and graduated with his bachelor’s in education. He started his 3.5 years of teaching Aug. 15 in Plainfield School District 202.

Ryan started out student teaching at Plainfield East High School as an assistant coach for football. Currently, he works as an assistant sophomore coach for football at Plainfield South High School and teaches at Meadow View Elementary School. He previously taught physical education at Ridge Elementary School.

— Anonymous

District 202 alum lands job at Big Ten school

Brenton Emanuel, a District 202 alum who graduated in 2003 has landed a job at a Big Ten School, the University of Southern California, as assistant track and field sprint coach.

Brenton was a former Plainfield Central Graduate who played football and track and field. He went on to run and graduate from Eastern Illinois University. He's coached at other big-name schools including Eastern Illinois and the University of Nebraska.

— Jasmine Aron

Plainfield student presents research at National Mathematics Conference

Philiffe Tebalan of Plainfield was among the eight Lewis University students who recently presented research at Mathfest, the second-largest annual mathematics conference in the world, and the annual meeting of the Mathematical Association of America in Indianapolis.

Mathematics major Zachary Campbell won the Janet L. Andersen Award for Undergraduate Research in Mathematical or Computational Biology and was awarded one of MathFest's Outstanding Poster Awards. Sulyok mentored Campbell on his presentation, "Mathematically Modeling Recurrent C. difficile Infections in Long-Term Care Facilities."

Stephenson and Sulyok co-advised mathematics majors Chuckie Gentile and Mackenzie Welsh and data science and computer science double major Nuvia Hernandez, who presented "Development of Agent-Based Models for Evaluation of Precision Nutrition Interventions through a Socioeconomic Lens."

Mathematics majors Tebalan and Evan Burns, who Harsy mentored, also presented their work, "Graph Theoretical Modeling of Self-Assembling DNA of the Double Cone Graph."

— Merit Pages News

Local student one of 100 named to spring 2024 dean's list at Coe College

Coe College is recognizing its highest-performing students as members of the Dean's List, including Toby Lister, who is currently among this elite group.

Lister, of Plainfield, has been named to the prestigious Spring 2024 Dean's List at Coe in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The student was also awarded a bachelor’s degree in economics and data science.

Past members of Coe's Dean's List have gone on to illustrious careers in both the private and public sectors.

The college recognized only 100 students for the Spring 2024 Term. To be named to the Dean's List, a student must earn at least a 3.5 grade point average for the term and rank in the top 10% of the student body.

"These students exemplify the best of Coe," said Coe President David Hayes '93. "It is a privilege to acknowledge their academic achievements with this honor."

— Merit Pages News

Student from Plainfield receives Alpha Zeta Mu honors

Sara Sienkiewicz, Plainfield, Class of 2026, earned Alpha Zeta Mu honors at Central College in the Spring 2024 semester.

Students with this honor must be full-time, complete at least three semesters at Central and achieve a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.8 on a 4.0 scale.

— Merit Pages News

Students from Plainfield named to University of Mississippi Chancellor's Honor Roll

The University of Mississippi announced students named to the Spring 2024 Honor Roll lists.

Audrey Howard, of Plainfield, IL, majoring in Communication Sciences/Disorders, was named to the Chancellor's Honor Roll, which is reserved for students who earn a semester GPA of 3.75-4.00.

• Cory Keylard, of Plainfield, IL, majoring in Accountancy, was named to the Chancellor's Honor Roll, which is reserved for students who earn a semester GPA of 3.75-4.00.
• Aaron Wyckoff, of Plainfield, IL, majoring in Finance, was named to the Chancellor's Honor Roll, which is reserved for students who earn a semester GPA of 3.75-4.00.

"The remarkable students achieving Chancellor's Honor Roll are among the best and brightest at the University of Mississippi," Chancellor Glenn Boyce said. "I commend them for their hard work and dedication resulting in their outstanding academic achievements and this well-deserved recognition."

To be eligible for honor roll designation, a student must have completed at least 12 graded hours for the semester and may not be on academic probation during the semester.

— Merit Pages News

Plainfield native earns dean's list honor at Tennessee Tech University

Tennessee Tech University is pleased to announce that Joshua Thomas of Plainfield has been named to the Dean's List for the spring 2024 semester.

To be included on the Dean's List, students must attend the university full-time and earn a grade-point average of at least 3.1 on the 4.0 scale.

"Tennessee Tech students continue to excel in the classroom and beyond. Their dedication to their studies and determination to succeed helps make Tech a place that we can all be glad to call home," said Tech President Phil Oldham. "Congratulations to all our students whose hard work earned them a place on the Dean's List. They have made their university, their families and their hometown communities very proud."

Congratulations on earning this academic achievement, Joshua!

— Merit Pages News