A new book by students at Lemont High School includes some interesting tidbits of history, such as teachers’ homes being destroyed by the deadly tornado of 1976.

“A while ago, in 1976, a significant tornado came right through the campus and a neighborhood across from us,” said Noah Tienda.  “A lot of teachers in this building lost their houses.

“We thought it was really interesting and incorporated that,” said Tienda, a senior and supply chain leader of Lemont Junior Achievement, which did the book.

Or the old bridge that used to run through town and crossed the canal.

“It stressed people out passing it and it has since been knocked down because the bridge wasn’t safe,” Tienda said.

The anecdotes are just a few of those found in “Lemont Times,” the book students are putting together and expect to publish later this fall. They took on the many roles of publishing, including marketing, research, design and sales.

The book has 10 chapters:

Businesses that Built Lemont
Building Blocks: From Students to Entrepreneur
Blue and Gold Standard: A History of Lemont High School
Lemont’s Legacy: Events that Shaped Our Town
Learning Lemont: One Story at a Time
Artistic Expression: Lemont High School Student Showcase
Embrace the Challenge: Daily Challenges to Inspire & Grow
Unlock Lemont: The Ultimate Trivia Challenge
A Taste of Home: Lemont’s Favorite Dishes
Honoring the Lemont Greats

“We have a lot of important vets who come from our community and tend to go unnoticed” Tienda said about their inclusion in the Lemont Greats chapter.

Residents were invited to submit information and stories and their responses included art work, pictures of the community and stories, and recipes for Polish and Lithuanian dishes, cookies and cupcakes.

Junior Achievement is a nonprofit established in 1919 that fosters financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. The idea is to help students connect academics to the real world.

It’s been going on for several decades at Lemont High School and students have earned 10 Chicagoland Company of the Year awards in the past 16 years, including in 2023 and 2024.

John Aspel, the Junior Achievement faculty adviser who teaches business, has overseen the project for 20 years. He said student responsibilities include developing a business plan, conducting market research, a development and design phase, production and delivery, usually in December.

But the 35 to 40 students do the actual work, merely receiving guidance from Aspel.

“I believe in student-led organizations and … try to run the organization as much as I can hands-off to let them truly develop their leadership skills and run our company,” said Aspel.

Aspel said the focus is more than simply business.

“They all have a diverse background, not all the students are interested in business,” he said. “They come with art backgrounds, which is kind of nice because I need students to help design our product, the graphics we use, and (students who) have communication skills and language skills … for proofreading documents and instructions if it’s a game.

“They really help mentor our younger students so they become our leaders of tomorrow,” said Aspel about the leaders of the club.

Students in the Entrepreneurial Club at Lemont High School learn business and publishing skills, which helped them create “Lemont Times,” a book about their community. (Lemont High School)

The work is part of the school’s Entrepreneurial Club, that meets at 7:15 two mornings weekly. Each group is led by a student board chosen by Aspel and the project’s graduating seniors, who are “executives.” Besides Tienda, this year’s board includes Michael Tilly, president; Mykala Kunickis, team leader of customer service and sales; juniors Kevin Collins, team leader of marketing; and Braden Vasvery, team leader of finance.

Tilly said his responsibilities include finances, revenues and profits, marketing and sending out surveys and posting notices on social media, overseeing the supply chain, designing and creating proofs, proofreading and customer service.

Tilly’s brother, who was a student several years ago and enjoyed the club, suggested he join. Tilly has been involved since he was a sophomore and part of the executive board that placed second in the state competition.

“This project has helped my leadership skills and with the different departments and areas of business, I have to be able to understand all of it,” Tilly said. “I really do just love leading everybody and being kind of a part of a real business that came from nothing.”

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/26/lemont-high-school-history-book-students/