Dupage Policy Journal

A charitable organization supporting a local school district will host a basketball tournament to benefit students as well as to pay homage to a departed colleague.

"I would encourage anyone who enjoys playing or watching basketball to come out to enjoy the morning," Donna Cain, president of the District 88 Board of Education, told the DuPage Policy Journal. "It is an opportunity for students and adults to play with their friends. In the adult division, we often get staff members playing who really play from the heart. It is just a fun, energy-filled morning."

District 88 Foundation to honor former coach, counselor with basketball tournament | District 88 Board of Education

The Dennis Doyle 3-on-3 Classic District 88 Foundation Basketball Tournament will be held March 4 at Addison High School, with transportation to the event provided from Willowbrook High School. The event is held in honor of Dennis Doyle, a former basketball coach and guidance counselor at Willowbrook High School from 1994 to 2006.

Doyle passed away in 2011 after a battle with leukemia, and the event was started that same year in his memory, making this the seventh annual event.

"He believed everyone should have a passion and to be able to achieve their dreams," Cain said. "As a parent, although my children didn't have him as a coach, they did have him as a counselor -- and he helped each of them to achieve their dreams, whether it was to go to a top engineering school or to figure out how she could graduate early and be an exchange student to Germany for her senior year."

While the event seeks to honor the memory of Doyle, it also has a charitable purpose. All proceeds from the event go to the District 88 Foundation, a charitable group primarily supporting Willowbrook and Addison High Schools.

The Foundation is part of a larger area charity called the Partnership for Inspired Education, which also supports Addison School District 4, School District 45 and Salt Creek School District 48. Founded in 2009, the group works to form long-term partnerships with area businesses to support area students beyond the capabilities of the schools' budgets.

"The proceeds are split between funding scholarships and for grants to encourage innovative learning in District 88," Cain said. "Examples of innovative learning are building a rain garden, materials for a robotics program or providing mobile beacons so students who don't have access to the internet at home can check a computer and a mobile beacon from the library in order to do homework at home."

Teams must be registered by Monday, Feb. 27. Teams of four members (three starters and a bench player) can participate in four divisions based on the age of the oldest player: 7th and 8th grade, 9th and 10th grade, 11th and 12th grade, or 18 and older.

The three grade-based divisions have a $30 registration fee, while the 18 and older division costs $60. Winning teams will receive a prize. There will also be a raffle for participants and their family members, the prize being tickets to a Chicago Bulls game.

For more information about the tournament, call Dani Brink at 630-530-3989 or visit the District 88 website.