The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Meet Your Neighbor

by Christy Kienast, The Quill

Meet your neighbor and Illini West Senior, Shelbi White of Carthage.

Shelbi is the daughter of Jan and Rodger White of Carthage. Her mother Jan is a special education teacher in Keokuk, Iowa and her father Rodger is a farmer.

Shelbi was born in Quincy and lived in Warsaw until the age of 5. The family moved to Carthage where Shelbi has attended school ever since. She says,  So, I consider myself raised in Carthage.

Shelbi has two brothers. Craig (Anita) Wear of Carthage who have twin children, Priya and Myles age 4, and Troy age 3. Craig and Anita are both pharmacists and own Wear Drug as well as the Lake Hill Winery.

Michael and his wife Maggie live just outside of Burnside. Michael farms and Maggie is a veterinarian at the Carthage Vet Service. The couple are expecting their first child in February.

Shelbi is the granddaughter of Helen and the late Robert White and Claire and Bonnie White.

Robert worked as a mail man in Basco and Sutter and also was a farmer near Plymouth. He died on October 29, 2009 (which is also Shelbi s birthday).

Helen was a stay at home mom of seven children and now lives in Carthage.

Grandpa Claire was the plant manager of Chem Gro in Bowen. Grandma Bonnie was an aid at Southeastern Elementary. They live in Bowen.

Shelbi, in her senior year, keeps very busy. She has always gotten straight A s and has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school.

She has been part of the past 3 Illini West Chargers Regional Girls basketball championship teams which the girls have won.

She is a member of National Honor Society, FBLA, Key Club, International Club and is a class officer.

Shelbi plays softball. She has worked at Wear Drug for the last two years. While in high school, Shelbi is taking dual credit classed through Carl Sandberg College.

Her favorite family vacation was when she was in third grade and she went to India.

That is where her sister-in-law Anita is from. Shelbi and her family attended a reception for them soon after they were married in the states.

She says,  It was definitely an experience! I really enjoyed expl oring their culture and customs. I hope to get my chance to travel after school and get to experience new things.

After graduation in the spring, Shelbi plans to attend college, but is uncertain about a major. Right now it is either pharmacy or actuarial science, but that is still up in the air, she says.