CI Hero: Stark Co. senior up for IHSA award for service
STARK COUNTY, Ill. (WMBD) — A Stark County high schooler didn't refrain from stepping up to lead her school's music classes when the district lost its teacher. Lauren Best is this week's CI Hero.
'Sometimes your mentor is someone who's been in your field for a million years and sometimes your mentor ends up being a 16-year-old and that's just how it turns out sometimes,' said Music Director Sophia Elswick.
Best stepped up her junior year, along with a group of friends, to fill a void when the music director quit. She helped current music director, Sophia Elswick, transition into the program when she accepted the role in early 2024. She said music is her passion and she felt compelled to keep that experience for other students.
'I've made some of my best friends in music and it's really important to me that I get to be in a community with these people,' said senior Lauren Best. 'I've been a leader for the junior high recently and it's been really cool because I get to be their role model and they're really fun to hang out with.'
Music moves Best, but so does education. She's graduating in the spring with her associate's degree and is up for valedictorian. Outside of her studies she's just as active.
'I'm on my robotics team through first robotics competition and I use my leadership skills there and my communication,' said Best. 'I'm also in a lot of music ensembles. At my church I play piano a couple times a month for offertory.'
'She got her Girl Scout Gold Award for a project she did in my room in helping me digitize all 5,000 titles of sheet music,' said Elswick.
All this work led the IHSA to nominate her for the National federation of State High School Associations Heart of the Arts Award.
'It was really good for me to learn leadership skills because I am pretty quiet overall,' said Best. 'It took a while for me to learn how to be a leader and communicate well.'
Elswick said Best is a student who's left an imprint on her heart and her teaching career.
'I am so grateful that our paths crossed in this way and to have her as one of my first students has been such an honor,' said Elswick.
In the fall, Best will study industrial engineering at Iowa State University.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Warriors Turn Heads With Steph Curry Post on Monday
Warriors Turn Heads With Steph Curry Post on Monday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Stephen Curry has redefined modern basketball since entering the league in 2009 as the seventh overall pick by the Golden State Warriors. During the 2024-25 season, Curry continued to add to his legacy. Advertisement He earned his 11th All-Star nod, 11th All-NBA selection and claimed his second All-Star Game MVP after scoring 20 points with six made three-pointers across the mini-tournament series in Golden State. Curry finished the season averaging 24.5 points, 6.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game, shooting 44.8% from the field, 39.7% from deep and an NBA-best 93.3% from the free-throw line. On Monday, the Warriors took to Instagram to share a brief highlight reel titled "Top 'Night Nights' of the year 😴⤵ @epic_insurance || Season Rewind," showcasing Curry's most memorable "night night" celebrations from the past year. Fans across Instagram quickly reacted to the post. Advertisement "My favorite one was the Draymond night night 😂 but that one against the Mavs was crazy STEPH 🐐," said one user. "I can't be the only one missing warriors basketball 😔," another fan replied. "steph is so tuff please win mvp n a ring next szn," responded one other fan. "Curry 🐐," commented another user. "Best player to touch the rock——>," said another fan. "This is curry with nothing to prove," one other commenter replied. Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry (30) was the star in the team's latest Instagram Thomas-Imagn Images As a team, the Warriors navigated a season of peaks and valleys. They finished with a 48-34 record (.585), placing third in the Pacific Division and seventh in the Western Conference. Advertisement In the playoffs, Golden State won its play-in matchup before advancing past the first round over the No. 2-seeded Houston Rockets, only to fall 4-1 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals. Notably, this marked the first season since 2010-11 without longtime shooting guard Klay Thompson, who departed in the offseason via sign-and-trade. Related: Ben Simmons Update Announced After Clippers Issue Big Demand Related: Shaquille O'Neal Makes Strong Statement Amid Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade Rumors This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Peoria Juneteenth Fest: Free health services & community fun
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — The YANI Collective celebrates Juneteenth with a day full of festivities including the Ernestine Jackson Freedom Day parade, music, horses, runway modeling, and money, on June 14, and beyond. Lexii Loushel, and Mary Moore of the YANI Collective stopped by WMBD This Morning to talk about it. The theme of this year's Juneteenth festival is 'Peoria Black Wallstreet.' Loushel explained that when these specially marked 'YANI Bucks' get used at participating businesses, they will keep circulating throughout the community. 'It's not just a festival, it's going to extend beyond and teach our community how to continue to work together and make money,' she said. The festival also includes a health and wellness fair, which includes free school physicals, and STD testing. The Juneteenth festival is not all health and economy, there is ample fun in store as well, such as an alumni basketball game, and dodgeball, and there will be plenty of music which will help with the line dancing and the Rip the Runway modeling show. There will also be horseback riding, bouncy houses and plenty of food vendors on site. The event also includes the third annual Miss Juneteenth Pageant, with new additions including Miss Teen Juneteenth, Mister Juneteenth, and Little Miss Juneteenth categories. There are many more family fun activities all stuffed into one memorable day, June 14, at John Gwynn Park, 809 W. John H. Gwynn Jr Ave. in Peoria. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Ride the Cyclone' musical debuts in East Peoria this weekend
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A dark comedy about death and amusement parks is heading to East Peoria this weekend. Eastlight Theatre is performing the regional premiere of the musical 'Ride the Cyclone.' One of the show's stars, Joshua Regan, joined director Kevin Paul Wickart on WMBD This Morning. The musical focuses on a group of teens who die on a malfunctioning rollercoaster. In the afterlife, they're offered a chance at resurrection by a magical fortune teller machine. It's not just the premise that's bizarre. Regan says his character, Ricky, was rendered mute due to witnessing the death of his father and retreats into a fantasy world of cat people in outer space. Despite the strangeness, Regan says the role has a lot of heart in it and delivers an inspiring message. 'It's such a good role to explore everyone's need to be seen and everyone's need to fit in,' he says. The Penguin Project presents 'Something Rotten Jr.' With such an odd premise and characters, it should come as no surprise that the show's music is similarly eclectic. 'I have a Bon Jovi-esque, 70s or 80s rock number,' Regan explained. 'And other people have a 1930s, like, accordion, stuff like that. So I think it's a great opportunity to explore the different music and have that reflect in the characters.' Wickart says, while the subject matter isn't exactly appropriate for young children, teens and families shouldn't be discouraged from checking out the show. 'We hope that the music and the lighter bits will carry [the audience] through,' Wickart told us. 'Ride the Cyclone' runs from June 13-15 and 18-21 at the Byron Moore Auditorium at East Peoria High School. Sunday, June 15 is a matinee performance; all other shows are in the evening. For tickets, visit Love WMBD This Morning? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our Daily Newsletter. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
