ETHS Baseball Primes For Post-Season Run

The Wildkits appear primed for a post-season run with help from many on the team, including seniors Alex Vergara and Brandon Vamarasi as well as a standout newcomer to the varsity squad, junior Joe Franke.

For the Evanston Wildkits, this baseball season can be summed up in one word: progress. After a below .500 2012 campaign, Evanston Township High School is now primed for a playoff run this year, as seniors and underclassmen have all had a share of the success. For the first time since 2008, ETHS has won more than 20 games. The record stands now at 21-12, following Wednesday’s 7-6 victory over Glenbrook South, which featured a three run rally in the bottom of the sixth as the Wildkits defeated the Titans 7-6. That was a great win, but not quite as spectacular as their 20th victory of the season this Tuesday, when pitcher Hunter Bailey tossed a no hitter in his first varsity start over the team’s main rival, Loyola Academy. Clearly, these …

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About Town

ETHS Grads Shape Young Actors at Mudlark

Patch opinion columnist Christine Wolf talks to two ETHS grads who are now leading Evanston kids in gutsy adaptations of plays like Franz Kafka's "The Trial" at Mudlark Theater Company.

Growing up, I never had the guts to perform on stage. Believe me, I wanted to be a star – anyone from a singer like Debbie Boone to a bunhead like Princess Leia; from the ultimate older sister, like Marcia Brady, to rainbow-chasing Dorothy Gale; from adorable baby sister Gretl to any one of the sassypants actresses in the 1982’s Annie. Instead, I could only imagine the applause while belting out Olivia Newton John songs in front of the bathroom mirror and admiring all the kids who’d found their way onto a stage. I’m happy to report that, thanks to the heroic efforts of Mudlark Theater Company, kids throughout Evanston are offered chances to get there. Mudlark’s not the only kids’ theater company in town, but it’s got something special. Led…

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About Town

Why 'You've Gotta Move to Evanston'

Columnist Christine Wolf listens to others' opinions about living in Evanston -- then offers her own.

Two days ago, I sat with my laptop in Panera, taking in all the bustle of a Saturday morning in Evanston. Northwestern students crept in, bleary, stressed out and in search of coffee and bagels. Older women sat together, drinking coffee and smiling at the young moms trying to corral their toddlers. A businessman in his 30's talked loudly on his cell phone with a colleague in Chicago. "I'm telling you," he said, unaware of how booming his voice was, "you've gotta move to Evanston. Seriously, it's where it's at." I was intrigued. He'd just been talking about P&L's and LLC's and stock offerings -- things I've never understood and never will. I do, however, speak Evanston, so I couldn't help writing down what he was saying. Just call me creepy…

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Christine Wolf

3:05 pm on Monday, April 8, 2013

Andy S., you're teasing us. Do tell.   more ›

Famous ETHS Grads: Where Are They Now?

What happened to these former Wildkits?

A slew of Hollywood actors, professional athetes and other famous folks have graduated from Evanston Township High School. Where are they now? Zach Gilford (2000): As Matt Saracen in NBC’s critically-acclaimed TV drama, Friday Night Lights, Zach Gilford played a back-up high school quarterback who gets bumped to first string only after a nationally-ranked starter suffers a career-ending injury. However, back when he played Wildkit football, it was an injury suffered by ETHS- alum Gilford (2000) that first lead to his interest in theater, according to a 2006 Chicago Tribune blog post. Since leaving the show, Gilford has played supporting roles in a few low-budget films, acted in a couple short-lived television dramas and, most recently, …

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John C Thomson

11:46 am on Saturday, March 9, 2013

Yes, she did. All one had to do was plug the question above into google and a whole host of names came up. What about Kevin Foster who pitched for the Cubs?   more ›

About Town

Police Chief Talks Gangs, Crime Around ETHS

Evanston Chief of Police Richard Eddington answers columnist Christine Wolf's questions about crime around Evanston Township High School, banning guns in Evanston and local gangs.

Hours after I posted an article on Monday, Dec. 3, about a second young man shot and killed near Evanston Township High School in less than three months, I was copied on an email from Evanston’s City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz. In the e-mail, Bobkiewicz asked Evanston Police Chief Richard Eddington to respond to the questions I’d posed at the end of the piece. I asked about the police presence around the high school—where there has been a shocking amount of recent crime—what police are doing to stop gang violence and whether guns could be banned in Evanston, among other questions. Eddington called that afternoon. Below, I’ve summarized the first part of our discussion. Click here to read the second part of my conversation with the chief. Has…

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2 Shooting Deaths in 2 Months: How Do We Move Forward?

In light of two murders by gunfire in less than three months, Patch columnist Christine Wolf asks why there isn't a stronger police presence in the area surrounding Evanston Township High School?

I had plans for today's column -- plans that didn't involve discussion of a young man's shooting death within blocks of my son's high school. You see, I wrote a column on that very topic two months ago, when Dajae Coleman, a freshman at Evanston Township High School, was shot and killed blocks from the high school...and yet here we are again, mourning the death of ETHS graduate Justin Murray, who was shot dead at 6:15pm, two blocks north of the high school, last Thursday, right in front of his grandmother's home. Tragically, and even before Coleman's death, Justin Murray's mother, Carolyn, helped organize a gun buyback program for the city of Evanston. The gun buyback, scheduled for December 15th, will pay $100 per gun. Yet no amount of …

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ETHS Superintendent Offers Statement On Fatal Shooting

In a note on the Evanston Township High School website, Supt. Eric Witherspoon expressed sympathy for the family of Justin Murray, 19, a 2011 Evanston Township High School grad.

Evanston Township High School Superintendent Eric Witherspoon offered a statement in response to the fatal shooting of 2011 ETHS grad Justin Murray. His words, posted on the district website, read as follows: "We are saddened to report that Justin Murray, a 2011 graduate of ETHS, was found shot and killed at approximately 6:30pm last night in the 1800 block of Brown Avenue, according to the Evanston Police Department. The investigation is ongoing. We communicated with ETHS staff this morning to help prepare them for the needs of our students. An email and phone message was sent to all ETHS families. We know that some students and staff members will have a difficult time dealing with this news. Our Student Services staff will be available …

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About Town

A Fellow Mom Grieves For Dajae Coleman

Opinion columnist Christine Wolf writes about the impact 14-year-old Dajae Coleman's death has had on her and on the city as a whole. In the midst of tragedy, one boy’s legacy of love unites a community.

One week after 14-year-old Evanston Township High School Freshman Dajae Coleman was shot and killed, thousands attended his funeral. My son and I approached the church just as Dajae’s family arrived. Despite the hundreds of people lined up outside the building, I have never heard such silence. The line inched forward as mourners entered and left the church, paying their respects to Coleman’s family. I saw women in their finest, babies in strollers, and mothers and fathers with arms around older children. Boys with “R.I.P. Dajae” shaved into their hair. City officials, educators, clergy. And then there were the students. So many kids, wide-eyed and stunned, stealing glances at the adults, surely wondering how we’d allowed this to happen to …

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Candlelight Vigil Honors Dajae Coleman

A memorial to Dajae is growing at the site where he was shot Saturday night. the 14-year-old Evanston Township High School freshman was killed while walking with friends.

Residents gathered for a candlelight vigil Monday night to mourn the death of 14-year-old Dajae Coleman, and to celebrate his short life. A growing memorial filled with messages, a Miami Heat hat, stuffed animals and more sits at the spot where he was shot and killed Saturday night. Residents interspersed candles with the other tributes as they remembered Dajae this week. If you attended the vigil and have any photos, or have any photos of Dajae that you'd like to share, you can do so by clicking the upload button.  To see more stories on Dajae, click here.

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