Free tutoring for low income BBCHS students

Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School will be offering tutoring to economically disadvantaged BBCHS students through a Title I grant.

Students who meet the income requirement can receive up to 30 hours free tutoring. All low income students are eligible.

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BBCHS grad Jen Porter comes home, playing at Smitty's

Jen Porter still has a circle of friends from her days of roaming the halls at Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School that she keeps in close contact with.

It's hard to believe the talented singer-songwriter, who made a name for herself in the Chicago music scene, has never been back to play in her hometown. That will change Saturday night.

"My classmate, Jay Smith, has always asked me to play here," said Porter when reached in Chicago by phone last week. "I told him, 'If you find me a gig to play, I'll be there.'"

The much-traveled Porter, a 1993 BBCHS grad, will bring her energetic piano-based rock show to Smitty's Bar, 1098 W. Station St., Kankakee, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday.

"It's been many years since I've lived there, but I'm excited about coming back," Porter said.

Smith was more than happy to accommodate Porter with a venue to play after he heard through a mutual friend who reached out on Facebook that she was going to be in town this weekend.

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10 Questions with Scott Wakeley, new BBCHS superintendent

The name "Wakeley" is starting to be synonymous with the title "superintendent."

The Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School District 307 Board of Education hired Scott Wakeley, 45, of Bourbonnais, to fill the district's top post this summer. He is a 1987 graduate of Momence High School, where his father, Joe Wakeley, served as superintendent for 15 years after having served as a principal and superintendent in Grant Park Community School District 6.

But the younger Wakeley clearly has forged his own way.

He served as a principal in Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 for eight years and superintendent in Yorkville Community School District 115 for the past three years. His new job brings him back home — literally — as he is living with his parents until he is able to sell his house in Genoa.

Wakeley is raising three children with his wife, Gretchen, a Chebanse native, including Emily, a college freshman; Jacob, a sophomore at BBCHS; and Abigail, who will be be a freshman at BBCHS next year.

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