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dh d a i l y h e r a l d . c o m

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RICK WEST /rwes t@da i lyhera ld .com

Samantha Young, Larkin High SchoolSamantha Young of Elgin plans to pursue her two loves — history and theater — incollege. The Larkin senior is active in performing arts, athletics, and volunteer work,and she organized the largest canned food drive in the school’s history.

CHRISTOPHER HANKINS /chankins@da i lyhera ld .com

Daniel Vecchiolla, Elgin AcademyElgin Academy student Daniel Vecchiolla of St. Charles enjoys mathematics and is consid-ering a career in engineering. “He is the student who will stay after class, work throughlunch, or find a teacher after school in order to be sure he understands the materialpresented from every angle,” his school counselor wrote.

LAURA STOECKER /ls toecker@da i lyhera ld .com

Patrick Eschenfeldt,St. Charles North

Patrick Eschenfeldt of St. Charleshas scored a trifecta this year:class valedictorian, National Meritfinalist and a perfect ACT score.At North, he also has beeninvolved in math team, ModelUnited Nations, concert band,wind ensemble and volleyball.On top of all that, he was theschool’s newspaper editor andwas Academic All-Conference forcross country.

MARY BETH NOLAN /mnolan@da i lyhera ld .com

Shaun O’Berry, Geneva High SchoolShaun O’Berry of Geneva plans to study biology in collegewith hopes of a career in medicine. He enrolled in anonline math class at the University of Illinois this yearafter exhausting the math curriculum at Geneva HighSchool.

LAURA STOECKER / ls toecker@da i lyhera ld .com

Jacob Walker, Huntley High SchoolJacob Walker of Lake in the Hills doesn’t let anythinghold him back. He has taken 13 AP exams, many of thosefor classes Huntley High School doesn’t even offer, aswell as some 300-level classes at Judson University.

MARY BETH NOLAN /mnolan@da i lyhera ld .com

Stephen Dunbar, Geneva High SchoolStephen Dunbar of Geneva will attend Dartmouth College inNew Hampshire. At Geneva High School, he was a three-year member of the varsity choir, and competed with theWorldwide Youth and Science in Engineering, speech andmath teams.

BRIAN HILL /bhil l@da i lyhera ld .com

Priya Deshpande, Huntley High SchoolPriya Deshpande of Lake in the Hills plans to study biology at the Univer-sity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and go on to medical school.

Julia Yurkovska,Crystal LakeSouth High School

Julia Yurkovska ofLake in the Hills arrivedin the United Stateswith her family at age 7with only five suitcasesbetween them. Morethan 10 years later,she is graduating fromCrystal Lake Southnear the top of herclass and poised topursue a career inforensic science. CHRISTOPHER HANKINS /

chankins@da i lyhera ld .com

JOE LEWNARD / j lewnard@da i lyhera ld .com

Stephanie Wahl, Larkin High SchoolStephanie Wahl of Elgin plans to draw on her experience in drama,choir and math team in her chosen profession: teaching.

Christina Zima,Elgin High School

Christina Zima of Elginplans to pursue a businessdegree at the University ofPennsylvania’s WhartonSchool, with the eventualgoal of becoming a lawyer.She has served as NationalHonor Society president,class officer and as amember of the HanoverPark Committee on Youth.

BRIAN HILL /bhil l@da i lyhera ld .com

We’re pleased today to present our 2007-08Daily Herald Academic Team.

The teenagers on these pages, both thewinners and the honorable mentions, are someof the most dedicated and hard-working you aregoing to meet. They represent a generationpreparing to take over — and if these studentsare any indicator, the future is in good hands.

To be named to the Daily Herald AcademicTeam requires more than good grades, great test

scores and impressive class rankings — althoughthose are important factors. These kids seethemselves as having responsibilities that gobeyond their own personal success. They aregoal-oriented, they are curious and they areconfident.

If you look at their short resumes, you’ll seethat these teens all have stepped outside them-selves to be of service to others, and they believethat their future work will serve mankind.

The nearly 100 public and private high schoolsin our readership area have produced anotherbumper crop of outstanding teenagers who areeager to get out there.

We’re proud to introduce them to you.

John Lampinen, Editor

2007 - 2008

Daily Herald Academic Team

The Academic Teammedal bears the likenessof Paddock Publicationspatriarch Stuart R. Paddock Jr.