Summer emanates from Carissa Novine as she shoots her hand to the sky, wide smile stretching across her face, and explains why planting marigolds in a vegetable garden is a good practice. “It keeps the bunnies away!” the Kindergartener exclaims. Summer is on the minds of Carissa and her classmates at EverGreen Academy as the school year comes to a close. But for Carissa’s parents, the season presented a perplexing situation a few years ago, as their youngest daughter approached school age. Carissa is a summer baby, born at the tail end of August. Would she be ready for school?…

Ask 7-year-old Turner Ritacco to read a poem, and he’ll quickly wrap his arms around his tiny frame, slink into his chair and firmly tilt his head toward the floor with a sulk and a frown. With a little coaxing, he might slowly look up, muster up some courage and give the poem a try. Ask him what he likes, and he will twist his lips into an adorable, crooked smile, and with the slightest little lisp shout, “Tractors!” Well, basically, anything that goes fast, has movable parts and might be intriguing to take apart will capture this energetic second-grader’s…

Three little boys stand outside their new school on a sunny, fall day, and the photographer never has to urge a smile. Wide, and in some cases, toothless grins dominate their faces. This is a genuine happy. For their father, Pablo Rivera, nothing could be more assuring than to see that his boys are content. After losing their mother a few years ago, the small family has sought to continue their lives in the best way possible. For Pablo, that included getting them into a private, faith-based school. He had hopes for Concordia Lutheran School in Sturtevant, but the only…