Latest news with #PrairieState
Chicago Tribune
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Annie Byrne, who coached Marian Catholic to state title, takes over at Prairie State. Method? ‘Put the work in.'
Annie Byrne admits that she was a 'bozo' when it came to her academics in high school. But now that she's the new women's basketball coach at Prairie State, the Joliet Catholic graduate isn't clowning around when it comes to having her new players hit the books. Byrne, who coached Marian Catholic to a Class 4A state title in 2013, felt the junior college experience helped point her in the right direction. And she wants to do the same for the Pioneers. 'I committed to Western Illinois but didn't clear the NCAA clearinghouse,' she said of her high school days. 'I got a 17 (ACT score) twice. If you are a monkey, you can get an 18. 'But I was a bozo and didn't need to do the stuff academically that I needed to do.' Connors State, a junior college in Oklahoma, came calling, however. Things then turned around for Byrne, whose maiden name is Basic. 'I achieved wonderfully academically and athletically there and we won a national championship my freshman year,' she said. 'I had a never-give-up attitude and always believed that you can accomplish what you want to accomplish and put the work in.' She wants to instill that wisdom in her players. Prairie State athletic director Joe Belcaster said that's what made Byrne stand out during the interview process. 'I think that's a great connection — these student-athletes' coach has experienced junior college the same way they have,' Belcaster said. 'She can help them through this process and tell them the do's and don'ts. 'She lived it and can say, 'Look where I am today.''' After posting a 216-51 record, Byrne resigned as Marian's coach in 2014 to become the director of operations at the Legends Sportsplex in Bourbonnais. She's also co-founder of the Illinois Defenders girls basketball travel program. She earned a master's degree in school leadership from Concordia after graduating from St. Xavier. Byrne, who lives in Munster, Indiana, said she got the itch to coach again after watching daughters Lucia, 13, and Ellie, 10, play club volleyball and then seeing many of her players again in May when Marian's 2013 girls team was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. 'It was fun getting up in front of 600 people and talking about the players,' she said. 'The people you see — it's such a small world. It's such a small arena, even though it's a big arena in the basketball world. It brought back a lot of feelings that are close to our heart. 'I've been out of coaching for a long day, but I am glad I have this opportunity.' The Pioneers won 20 games under Tanner Kuehn in 2024-25 — the program's first 20-win season since 2013. Byrne is expecting to keep things headed in the right direction. She confirmed that she wants to build a program that either wins a national championship or is in a position to win a national championship each season. Before taking over at Marian, Byrne was the coach at Illinois Institute of Technology when she was only 22. Now, at age 44, she will change her style a little bit, but she won't be a shrinking violet. 'I've learned that it's really important that we build up our athletes and it's extremely important that we lift our athletes,' she said. 'But I'm also one of those coaches who will holler at someone the same way I compliment someone. 'Some players adapt to that and some players don't. I've learned to embrace that. Not everyone is going to love that style, but I would rather be that aggressive coach who is very instructive.'
Chicago Tribune
12-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
PNW graduation speaker emphasizes forging your own path
Had Samantha Paterson not liked animals more than people, she might've been headed to medical school, according to her family. Instead, the 22-year-old Purdue University Northwest Biology Sciences graduate from Plymouth will attend a 15-month veterinary tech program in Indianapolis before making the leap to veterinary school, her mom Shalon Paterson and grandma, Susan O'Reilly, said as they waited for PNW's commencement ceremony to start Saturday morning. 'We're very proud. She's very sweet,' O'Reilly said. 'Even on the weekends, she's babysits dogs for people.' 'She's our first college graduate, and it's awe-inspiring,' added Paterson, who herself is working on her degree in pre-school education. 'She's had clients from the 9th grade, even though she's allergic to dog-bedding.' PNW had 851 matriculators, with three nursing students earning their doctorates, it was announced during the ceremony. Like Paterson, more than half of the students walking in the ceremony were first-generation college graduates, and more than 200 of them received master's degrees. President and CEO of Wilson Sporting Goods Joe Dudy was a first-generation college student when he graduated from PNW 33 years ago, he said during the keynote address. He was lucky to have a then-Purdue Calumet willing to accept him as a student, he said, because in high school, he was unenthusiastic about it for the first two years. One of his teachers finally got through to him, Dudy said, and he started taking his education seriously. If he had a chance to do it over, he'd have taken it seriously from the start. 'I wish I didn't wait for somebody to inspire me, because our lives are precious,' said. 'It's up to us to write our own stories and do what we want and achieve.' Among the advice he imparted to the students included 'writing your own story' — a phrase Wilson has used in an ad campaign — removing false limits on yourself and embracing change always. Doing so made his rise to CEO from entry-level accountant at the company easier to manage. 'There's a saying I love' 'Change is inevitable, but growth is optional',' he said. Alejandro Dalamari, 25 of Steger, Illinois, has seen a lot of change last five years of his life. Starting his college career at Prairie State, the master's candidate in Business Information Analytics dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic closures about as well as anyone did, he said. Then, in 2022, he suffered a stroke from which he made a full recovery, but made finishing school a lot tougher. 'I was at Prairie State, and then COVID hit. Then I went to (Illinois Institute of Technology) and hated it, so I didn't know what I was doing for a while,' he said. 'A friend recommended PNW, and it was the best thing I ever could've done. 'The professors were so helpful and wanted us to succeed.' Luai Boarish, a student from Hasa, Saudi Arabia, wanted to come to the United States after his father worked here in 2002 because of opportunity. Boarish earned his degree in Electrical Engineering, and his brother, Khater Boarish, is still working on his. 'My dad told us we would learn so much more about culture by leaving (Hasa), and he was right,' he said. 'I've now even brought my wife, so the opportunities have been great.'
Chicago Tribune
17-02-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Los Angeles advocate revisits his Chicago Heights roots with $100K Prairie State College scholarship
Allan DiCastro wants to make sure students at the Chicago Heights elementary school he attended can afford to eventually go to college, like he did, at nearby Prairie State College. So DiCastro, who moved to Los Angeles in the 1980s, recently donated $100,000 to the PSC Foundation. The funds will go to students with 'demonstrated financial need' who attended Serena Hills Elementary School for at least one semester and go on to PSC. They have three years to finish a certificate there and the donation covers all their out-of-pocket expenses. 'It was important to me that they be seen,' DiCastro said. 'They have a long road ahead of them.' DiCastro graduated from Prairie State in 1980 with an emergency medical technician certificate, according to information from the college. But his sister, Gail Ann DiCastro, who had planned to enroll there in 1979, was one of three graduates of Homewood-Flossmoor High School who was killed that year when American Airlines Flight 191 crashed that year, just after taking off from O'Hare Airport in one of the worst aviation disasters in the nation's history. The new GAP Scholarship, for Gail Ann Prize, is named in her honor. Allan DiCastro later obtained a degree in finance from another university and began a career working in savings and loans and banks. He said his mom by herself raised him and his four siblings, all who attended Serena Hills, so they had jobs early on. 'I mowed lawns, helped strip furniture, worked with maintenance at an apartment building and worked my college summers, primarily at Col. Chucks Auction Gallery of Monee,' he said. His mom also attended Prairie State, studying nursing after having had to put off her education for years. 'It's like in the Wizard of Oz — Dorothy always had the power, and so do these kids … I want them to know that it can happen for them, too, but they have to go forward, and I am here to help them get started,' he said in a news release. 'Education has always been a solution.' After moving to Los Angeles, DiCastro helped start and is the executive director of Art + Practice, a non-profit gallery/exhibition space that which helps young adults ages 18-24 transition from foster care. The new scholarship isn't his first time helping at his former elementary school. He has also donated new winter coats to students at the Serena Hills, along with funds for a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics lab. Deb Havighorst, executive director of the PSC Foundation, said the Prairie State community is grateful for the scholarship donation. She is helping to identify Serena Hills graduates attending Bloom, Homewood-Flossmoor and Marian Catholic high schools, who may wish to attend PSC in the future. 'He's very involved in philanthropic ventures and he's just a really interesting and great guy,' said Havighorst, who had a chance to meet DiCastro via videoconference. 'He said he just wants these students to know that he believes in them. 'I tell you, that is the most powerful impact of a scholarship for our students,' she said. The students she's contacted so far have been surprised and grateful. 'They cannot get over the fact that we have people who don't know them who donate money so they can be successful,' Havighorst said. 'It's wonderful to be able to share that with students and it's just as wonderful to be able to tell donors how strong their impact is.' Tuition and books typically cost $6,000 for two semesters at Prairie State, though some programs such as Nursing, Dental Hygiene and Surgical Technician can cost a little more, Havighorst said. Havighorst recalled a student in 2013 saying he had to skip the previous semester because he didn't have the $200 needed to attend. 'Nobody should have to miss going to college over $200,' she said.
