To students at Little Friends’ Krejci Academy, Lemont High School students ‘rock’

3/5/2010

Sophomores Amanda Parson and Becky Scott and junior Migle Medonaite were three of teacher Ryan Hennebry's Art students who helped provide unique designs for chairs donated to Little Friends, Inc.'s Krejci Academy.

Three distinct groups of Lemont High School students recently teamed up to produce a charitable donation that rocks - in every sense of the word. Students from the school’s Art, Family and Consumer Science, and Industrial Technology programs collaborated to produce a series of rocking chairs that were donated to Krejci Academy, one of several schools operated by Little Friends, Inc. in Naperville.

Twenty students in teacher Scott Duensing’s Woods I students built the chairs utilizing the school’s Woods Technology Learning Center facilities. Students in teacher Ryan Hennebry’s Art courses incorporated an original design while hand-painting each chair, and teacher Jenna Stevenson’s Interior Design students chose fabric for, and created, the accompanying seat cushions.

Krejci Academy offers a therapeutic environment for its students, and the donated chairs have captivated students with their color and design. An alternative school for children and adolescents with developmental and social/emotional disabilities - including Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD’s) - Krejci Academy provides a highly specialized learning environment for its 125 students. Krejci Academy’s classroom lessons are designed around the needs of the students, ranging from learning basic life skills to studying math or reading lessons typical of other children their age.

Link to Little Friends, Inc.

Krejci Academy is one of several programs run by Little Friends, Inc., a Naperville-based, private, non-profit organization serving children and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities. Included among Little Friends’ 13 programs are three alternative schools, family support and consultation services, vocational training programs, community-based residential services and the Little Friends Center for Autism. The agency serves more than 800 people annually from throughout DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Will and western Cook Counties.

One final donation by Lemont students - a Mickey Mouse-themed rocking chair painted by sophomore Amanda Parson - will be auctioned off at Little Friends’ annual Bids for Kids Auction, which will be held at the Hilton Lisle-Naperville on Saturday, March 6.

For more information, contact Director of School and Community Relations Tony Hamilton at (630) 243-3280, or Little Friends Director of Marketing and Public Relations Carolyn Hamilton at (630) 281-1815.