At Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, several young adults from its Adult Down Syndrome Center are volunteering at the hospital. "When he gets up on Tuesdays, he's just giddy," says Owen Laatsch's mother, Cathy Laatsch. "He loves coming here and the teamwork involved."

The Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 school board has appointed Erin Knoll as the district's new assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. Knoll has been with the district since 2003, working as a reading recovery teacher, literacy coach and teacher prior to her 2007 appointment as director of literacy.