Kane County Reporter

At the May 23 meeting of the Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education, the board congratulated the graduating seniors at its three high schools.

Educator Molly Fisher praised “... the amount of perseverance these [students] have shown over a most unusual and challenging high school career, to say the least.” 

Fisher also encouraged graduates to pursue careers in education.

“I believe Stella Wetzel, who's a former Illinois State University graduate and D300 English teacher, would be so proud to see the continuance of students being called to enter the field of education,"  Fisher said. "We hope to see you guys all return to the community as future employees of District 300.”

The board uploaded a livestream of its public meeting to the district’s YouTube channel.

District 300 has three high schools: Jacobs High School, Hampshire High School, and Dundee Crown High School. All three held their graduation ceremonies on May 20. Superintendent Susan Harkin attended all three ceremonies, wearing  pairs of shoes designed by a student from each respective high school as part of the eighth annual Anne B. Miller Graduation Ceremony Shoe Design Contest.

The district saw more than 1,700 student graduate this year. The graduating class included 100 AP Scholars, three National Merit semifinalists, and 271 National Honor Society members. Grads earned 4271 dual credits during 2022, completed 2116 AP exams over the four years, and have at least 446 industry certifications. The class also amassed over $15.6 million in scholarships.

One of these scholarships was the LEAD 300 Stella Wetzel Memorial Scholarship, founded by former D300 Superintendent Norm Wetzel in honor of his late wife and her work as a district teacher. Dundee Crown seniors Berenice Corona, Esbeide SagalBustamante, Kyle Martin, Hampshire High’s Lilja Marie Farnam, and Jacobs High’s Lindsay Miserendino were honored with $1000 scholarships.

The board also commended three students, one from each high school, who had made the winning shoe design that Harkin wore to their graduation ceremonies. The scholarship program, Anne B. Miller Graduation Ceremony Shoe Design, was started by D300 board President Anne Miller in 2016, where district staff vote on a winning shoe design from each school. Winning students receive a $500 scholarship and get to see Superintendent walk onto the stage in their work. 

From Dundee Crown High School, Lauren Braswell’s blue high heels with their mascot chargers won; from Hampshire High School, Felisa Lascano designed purple and white slip-on’s to keep Harkin comfortable and stylish. And from Jacobs High, Ruben Rivera caught everyone’s eye with his high top sneakers with wings from their eagle mascot.

In other business, the board discussed the district’s student fee, used to gain textbooks, consumable materials, and extracurricular activities, to name a few.

The board also discussed paying approximately $200,000 to Paul Herrera Construction Co. to build wheelchair accessible swings.

The board will meet again at 6 p.m. on June 27 at the District 300 Central Office at 2550 Harnish Drive.