Applications for free or reduced-priced meals for the 2016-17 school year in Valley View School District 365U are now available to complete and submit using the new online application on the VVSD website.
Households must apply for meal benefits every school year.
Utilizing the website application, which is available in both English and Spanish, is the fastest way to process an application. Completed applications will be processed in approximately 10 days from the time they are submitted. Approval/denial letters will be mailed once the application is processed.
Anyone who recently received a Direct Certification letter from VVSD, does not need to complete a household meal application.
Students approved for reduced price meal benefits will be charged 25 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch.
For those who do not wish to apply online, paper applications will be available in all schools and at the VVSD Administration Center in late July/early August.
Note that students who have been approved for free meal benefits may also be eligible for a partial waiver of student fees.
More information is available by visiting vvsd.org/food.
Martinez “Derby Girl” Betsy Koetz recalls her brief brush with skating glory
Like most kids, Betsy Koetz liked to roller skate as a child.
But the A. Vito Martinez Middle School Dean’s Office Secretary had no idea her youthful fun would turn into a brief career competing in Roller Derby.
Koetz says it all started about three or four years ago when she and her husband, Trevan, were watching a television special on the sport that got its start in Chicago 75 years ago and has blossomed into a worldwide sensation.
“I mentioned to him that roller derby was something that I always wanted to do,” Koetz recalled. “He had a friend who was involved in it so he talked to her.”
The next thing she knew, she was lacing up the skates and trying out for the Illinois Valley Vixens in Ottawa.
“The last time I roller skated before that was when I took my 14-year-old daughter to a birthday party when she was 5 or 6,” Koetz said. “There was a pretty big gap. It was tough to get back on skates.”
But she made the team as a blocker, playing both offense and defense as she and other blockers tried to help her team’s jammers score points by passing the other team’s pack.
Koetz, a 16-year Martinez veteran who also serves as Student Services secretary while overseeing attendance and managing lockers, spent a year with the Ottawa club before joining the Black Widow Derby Ghouls who were in the process of moving from Tinley Park to the Main Street Rink in Romeoville.
“I grew up skating there,” said the Jane Addams Middle School and Bolingbrook High School graduate. “It was fun.”
Her career with the Derby Ghouls came to a sudden stop in a practice bout when she was blindsided and taken down.
“I landed full force on my knees and ended up doing the splits. I don’t do splits,” she said. “So I took some time off to recuperate.”
Koetz returned to the rink briefly but family commitments and time constraints forced her to retire. Shortly after she left, the Derby Ghouls disbanded because their rink was sold.
“It was just three years. But it was the best three years of my life,” she said. “I do miss it for the exercise and the friendships. Once you’re a Derby Girl, you’re always a Derby Girl.”
Bolingbrook High School AFJROTC Drill Camp gets underway Aug. 8
Cadets new to the Bolingbrook High School Air Force JROTC program will have an opportunity to get a head start on the new school year during Drill Camp Aug. 8-11.
The Drill Camp, which takes place from 8 a.m. to noon, introduces new cadets to the JROTC program and begins the process of teaching fundamentals that lead to student success.
The four day program is run by Senior Cadets who also serve as year-long mentors to new arrivals.
The Drill Camp will take place in the BHS Drill Hall, Room E-208.