For more than 50 years, educators have taught generations of Yorkville middle school students to put their best foot forward in the annual Square Dance Jubilee.

She leads her business with compassion, always putting her employees first and creating a supportive environment.

She leads with compassion, gives back quietly, and puts her people first. Meet Dr. Ashley Dickerson — a Kendall County 2026 Everyday Hero, as nominated by the employee who sees her in action every day.

The lifelong Yorkville resident, who did pole vault in high school and later at North Central College and teaches at Oswego East, now is a volunteer track and field assistant at Yorkville High School.

Roger Matile has been the volunteer director of the Little White School Museum in Oswego since 1994. Last year, he was named an Outstanding Citizen Volunteer of the Year by the Illinois Association of Park Districts.

Marine veteran Tom Bulin, of Oswego, said what most people forget about the Vietnam War is that most of the fighters on both sides were very young.

Twenty-one years after retiring from the Navy Nurse Corps, Priscilia Laubscher, of Oswego, continues touting the teamwork and communication skills necessary to thrive under challenging situations.

Check out our photos from our Thank You Veterans special section in Kendall County for 2025.

Ken Ridgeway has a creed that he’s remained faithful to no matter his calling: give 110% in everything you do. He's lived that commitment as Plano High School groundskeeper, and carried that dedication overseas as a steam plant operator aboard ships in the U.S. Navy.

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Matthew Dolmyer works for the commission as a veterans service officer/veterans court liaison. Helping fellow veterans is something that he feels compelled to do.

William Sutton joined the Marine Corps at age 18 and was deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan in September 2010 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan that began in October 2001 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Joey Martinez is the owner of The Barber Battalion, which is located at 123 W. Washington Street, Suite 106, in downtown Oswego.

“Anytime we can bring people into our school to share things, the kids and the community benefit so much from it,” Shelley Schmidt said.

Brian Long had strong mentors growing up in his cross country coach and Spanish teacher. He’s taken their inspiration and run with it. Long is in his second school year at Sandwich as cross country and track coach. Long also is one of three multilingual teachers in the district.

Clarissa Cooper did not envision a career in teaching growing up, and she did not necessarily expect it to be in her hometown. Yorkville is sure happy to have her. The 2016 graduate is in her fourth full school year as a teacher and coach at her alma mater.

Karvelius has been at Oswego School District 308’s Murphy Junior High School since it first opened in 2012. Prior to that, she worked at Traughber Junior High School for a year.

Read our letters submitted by students and parents in Kendall County for our 2025 Thank You Teachers special edition

For five decades, Gary Johnson’s passion for science has ignited a catalyst of wonder within generations of students in his classroom. Johnson currently teaches biology, chemistry, and physics to 9-12 graders at Parkview Christian Academy.