Four metro-east schools were selected to compete in the Buffalo Wild Wings "Spirit Bracket Challenge V." The schools are Our Lady Queen of Peace in Belleville, St. Joseph Catholic School in Freeburg, Metro-East Lutheran High School in Edwardsville and Aviston Elementary School in Aviston.

In all, 16 schools in the greater St. Louis metro area are competing for a grand prize of $2,500 along with a percentage of the revenue generated at the restaurant. In order to advance in the competition, a school must generate more revenue on their designated day than the other school against whom they paired. The competition, similarly structured to March Madness, starts with 16 schools and continues until two schools remain. The final two schools will face-off in the final round of competition.

The first round pits Lutheran High against McCluer High School in Florissant, Mo. "The ironic component of this combination is that the principal of McCluer High School (Gary Spiller) is an alumnus of Lutheran High," said Curtis Wudtke, principal at Lutheran High.

To get students excited about the competition, Lutheran High held a wing-eating contest during a school assembly Tuesday. The first day of competition is Wednesday. Dine-in or carry-out purchases made from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Edwardsville will help Lutheran High meet its fundraising goals -- a new student lounge -- and advance to the next round.

Our Lady Queen of Peace will face St. Joseph in the first round of competition. Supporters of Our Lady Queen of Peace can show their support by visiting Buffalo Wild Wings in Belleville Wednesday, and supporters of St. Joseph will need to come out next Wednesday, Feb. 27. Aviston School will face Bierbaum Elementary in St. Louis. Fans of Aviston School can visit the Buffalo Wings in O'Fallon to show their support Wednesday.

Last year's Spirit Bracket IV winner was Woodlawn Elementary School in Edwardsville.

Allen R. Cassens, of Edwardsville, will receive the 2013 Friend of the University Award when McKendree University in Lebanon observes its 185th anniversary Wednesday. It will be presented during a Founders' Day program at 7 p.m. at the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts. The Alumni Board gives the award to individuals or organizations who are not McKendree alumni but who have given exemplary service to the university. A member of the board of trustees for 17 years, Cassens has provided significant volunteer and philanthropic leadership, including serving on its resource development and academic affairs committees.

Several metro-east students will be recognized at the "Do The Right Thing" ceremony Thursday at the St. Louis County Police Department in Clayton, Mo. They include: Marcus Hahn from Central Junior High in Belleville District 118; Cecilia Murnane, Abby Stone, and Darien Washington from Westhaven Elementary in District 118; Emily Jansen from St. Clare Catholic School in O'Fallon; Jordan Fritz and Hannah Langford from Smithton School District; and Jack McCloskey and J.P. Vrooman from Signal Hill School District. Do The Right Thing is a program that recognizes St. Louis-area students for exhibiting positive character traits.

Four Attention Deficit Disorder experts will hold a public panel at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Dunham Hall prior to the production of the play "Distracted." Admission to the panel is free. The one-hour sessions are set for 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Dunham Hall. The panelists will address a variety of topics including what is ADD, how the condition is treated now as compared to the past and what is on the horizon for treatment.

The panels are a lead-in to "Distracted," the story of a mother searching for answers as she deals with the medical establishment and who determines whether her child has ADD? "Distracted" opens in SIUE's Dunham Hall Theater on Wednesday and runs through Sunday. For tickets or more information call the Fine Arts box office at 618-650-2774.

The Knights of Columbus from O'Fallon Council 4239 held the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship Feb. 8 at St. Clare Catholic School in O'Fallon. The competition was open to all boys and girls up to the age of 15. The winners were: first place Maggie Sheerin, second place Sammi Hartkop and third place Christian Johnson. The local winners will advance to the regional competition Saturday at the O'Fallon Knights of Columbus Hall. The state finals date and location will be announced at a later date.

Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville will hold a college fair from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the varsity gym, located at 2500 Carlyle Ave. High school students and community college transfer students can meet with more than 100 colleges and universities and attend financial aid and transfer planning workshops.

A financial aid workshop will be held from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.; a FAFSA completion workshop will be held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and a transfer planning workshop will be held at 2:30 p.m. The college fair is free and open to the public.

Belleville West senior Cody Essien won second place in the Illinois High School Association speech and acting state tournament last weekend in Peoria. Essien placed in the dramatic interpretation event.

"We were thrilled he got second place," said Coach Adam Jenkins. "To place at the state tournament from anywhere is an accomplishment, especially when you are from Southern Illinois. The competition is dominated by Chicago suburbs. The fact that we've had success every year since 2006 says a lot about how hard our students work."

Belleville West graduate Jillian Sisko, class of 1978, is the recipient of "A Day Made Better" award from OfficeMax. Sisko is an eighth grade literature teacher at Pontiac Middle School in Pontiac, Mich., where she has taught for 11 years. Sisko, 52, was one of 1,000 teachers in the United States selected to receive the award. She received $1,000 in classroom supplies donated by OfficeMax.

Sisko, who was born and raised in Belleville, lives in Rochester, Mich., with her husband Joe. The couple has two adult children. Sisko is the daughter of Joyce and Wayne Muren of Belleville.

As part of its "Dentist By 1" educational campaign, the Delta Dental of Illinois Foundation donated nearly 4,500 oral health kits containing toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss and educational flyers to organizations that support early childhood development for underprivileged children across Illinois. To help in its efforts to improve the oral health of the children, Southern Illinois University Head Start will receive a portion of the donation for children in St. Clair County.

Immaculate Conception School students from Columbia won third place in the medium size school division at the regional Math Counts competition Feb. 9 at SIUE. Math Counts competitions have individual and team components that promote critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Seventh grader Elena Biske was the highest scoring ICS student. Team members included: Johnny Adams, Alicia Archambault, Madelon Belaska, Jake Heet, Jacob Hennes, Lucas Herrmann, Thomas Herrmann, and Morgan Ladyman. The students were coached by math teacher Karen Weiler. Math Counts is a national enrichment and competitive program designed to promote achievement in middle school mathematics.

The Scholastic Bowl team at Immaculate Conception School took first place at the Mater Dei Scholastic Bowl Tournament Feb. 2. Thirty-six teams competed in the tournament. ICS faced Amelia Carriel Junior High in O'Fallon in the championship match and walked away with a victory, 200-135. John Cygnarowicz earned first team all tournament honors with 14 toss up questions in the morning rounds and an additional 10 toss ups in the afternoon matches. Other team toss up leaders included Dalton Scace, Thomas Herrman, Jake Heet and Andy Loless. Additional team members participating in the tournament included James Haller, Jay Hollman, Morgan Ladyman, Alejandro Perez and Maddie Ritter. The team is coached by Head Coach Tiffany Green and Assistant Coach Dan Kassebaum.

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