Big effort made BG Days great
To the editor: We would like to thank the companies who participated Labor Day weekend in Buffalo Grove Days 2007.
Their donations of products, food and gifts, as well as their association in this yearly event, made it another successful year!
We put our order in early with the weather service and were rewarded with the great weather for our five day festival!
We had thousands of residents, family and friends pass through during the weekend. Many people found money owed to them by the state of Illinois at the Cash Dash Booth. Guests also participated in playing Bingo; watching the entertainment and the parade; riding the carnival rides; visiting the arts & crafts and business fairs; and enjoying the fireworks show on Sunday night.
Our food tent was busy and the vendors were delighted with the crowds.
Our Food and Fun program for disabled persons was very well attended. We packed and served 500 lunches to the guests. The Buddy Baseball game was fun and the energy of the kids was contagious!
The Grill Challenge grew to 19 participants this year. The Dessert Challenge was tasty and the demonstration by Trader Joe's gave some new ideas for lunches to be enjoyed at school or home.
There are many people to thank for the success of this weekend: from the individual crafters to the street performers; from the Chamber of Commerce, to St Mary's Church, to all the village employees who helped pull this event together. We also thank the police department K9 unit, and to Chilly Willie, who plans to retire after this season!
But most of all, we thank our volunteer committee. Our core group of 45 volunteers worked for eight months to plan this event. They and their families worked many hours during the weekend to make this year's festival run so smooth and successful.
We look forward to seeing all of you next year at the 2008 Buffalo Grove Days, which will highlight the 50th anniversary of Buffalo Grove!
Paulette Greenberg and I.V. Springman
Co-chairs, Buffalo Grove Days 2007 & 2008
Letter doesn't tell the true story
Editor's note: This letter was sent to Joann Braam, president of the Maine Township High School District 207 school board.
To the editor: It is with a certain measure of disappointment that I write this open response to the Sept. 5 board letter to parents.
One misconception your new letter perpetuates is that Maine Teachers Association has never presented a salary proposal, in any form. As you know, that is not true. If the goal of your letter was to inform parents about the negotiation process, it would be more effective to provide a more detailed account of the history of the salary issue during this round of bargaining.
I appreciate the board's acknowledgment of our right to communicate with parents and the media. Indeed, we will keep that line of dialogue going, since it is the MTA's sincere view that our reason for being is, precisely, to serve the communities that sustain our district.
Communicating with parents is a key piece of our job. However, your letter provides no indication that the educators of District 207 are engaging in this communication at the cost of being ineffective professionals. Implying such is not constructive toward what we believe is necessary during a negotiation process: a positive relationship based on mutual respect.
It is of the utmost importance for the MTA to continue and improve on the excellence of our programs. We have always viewed this bargaining process as a helpful tool to engage in constructive dialogue with the board in attaining precisely that.
Adding "we believe" to the last sentence of your letter seems unnecessarily insidious. It is my hope your next letter offers a balanced view of the bargaining process, deviates from finger-pointing and demonstrates a healthy respect of the first-class education professionals who build the excellence District 207 is known for.
Finally, my conviction is that the board and the MTA are both equally invested in each and every student District 207 is privileged to serve. I harbor no doubts we will eventually agree on a contract that is fair, responsible toward the means put at our disposal by the communities and a model to be emulated by other districts.
After all, being a model is part and parcel of this great district's history.
José V. Argüello, president
Maine Teachers Association
Grammar criticism misses the point
To the editor: Although I don't have children attending Stevenson School in Elk Grove Village, I couldn't help but be touched by your coverage of the surprise welcome signs in the yards of their kindergarten students.
I imagined those dedicated teachers using their free evening to creep around the neighborhood locating the homes of their future students. What a selfless, caring act, indeed! I've since learned that they visited 37 homes that evening.
How disappointed I was, then, to see a letter from one of your readers lambasting the staff for the "incorrect" grammar on the signs. While I can accept her assertion that "loves" is neither a possessive nor a contraction, I suspect one might be hard-pressed to find a grammar book that addresses the usage of "the big, red heart."
Your reader clearly missed the point of this covert operation. The first day of kindergarten is a very emotional day for a 5-year-old. Thanks to these teachers, the feelings of anxiety, nervousness and fear were perhaps replaced with excitement, pride and surprise.
Shame on you, Ms. Rubino, for trying to sour this wonderful experience. Congratulations to Stevenson School for creating a lifetime memory!
Sharon Olson,
Elk Grove Village
Teens efforts to help inspiring
To the editor: Three years ago my sister, Rochelle, and I decided to organize a golf tournament in memory of my sister's daughter, Jessica, who had tragically died from leukemia. Our goal was two-fold: raise money for The Leukemia Research Foundation and involve our youth in our related fundraising activities.
With the help of so many of our family and friends we have generated more than $75,000 of net dollars these past three years.
I am especially proud of my children, Julie, a recent grad of the University of Illinois in Champaign; Carli, a junior at Northern Illinois University; and Evan, a senior at Buffalo Grove High School. In conjunction with our 2007 golf tournament, Julie, Carli and Evan coordinated a "neighborhood" youth-run car wash.
The Buffalo Grove High School students who supervised this unique car wash concept at their own homes on their own driveways included Evan Kander, Walter Zawlocki, Joey Busse and Paul Timko. Our goal was to raise a total of $400, but given everyone's hard work and the involvement of each of our neighbors and friends we raised more than $1,800.
I am so proud of these high school students, their wonderful parents and all of our neighbors for being a part of this important fundraising event. I feel it is most important that I and our community give them this recognition that they so richly deserve.
Be on the lookout again next year for the second in this series of "neighborhood" car washes as we also begin to plan for the fourth annual JSM Family Golf Tournament (www.jsmfamilygolf.org) at the Traditions of Chevy Chase Golf Course on July 18, 2008.
Marty Kander
Buffalo Grove
State officials need cooperation lesson
To the editor: Last week, during the Prospect Heights Dollars for Scholars Golf Outing, I noticed a tangible sign of government organizations' cooperation with each other for the mutual benefit of the residents they serve.
The Prospect Heights electric message sign titled Prospect Heights Library and Park Districts was informing everyone who passed by on West Camp McDonald Road about upcoming events and communicating local information.
Some of our state elected officials and political party members should follow the lead of the wise trustees and staffs of the Prospect Heights Library board and the Prospect Heights Park District.
Dan Quiery
Arlington Heights
(formerly of
Prospect Heights)
Reality check needed in Dist. 211
I read with amusement the comments from teacher's union president John Braglia in today's Daily Herald. Given his comments, I think the teacher's union might want to consider getting a new leader that understands reality a bit better.
Let's recap what brought us to this point in time:
• The citizens of District 211 were forced to approve a tax increase in 2005 because the district was essentially bankrupt. Bankrupt due to the teachers contract and years of prior superintendents caving in to excessive demands from the union.
• The teachers in District 211 have the third highest average salary in the State of Illinois, yet the students rank among the worst in performance (63rd) in the State on ACT test results.
• Now, the union thinks it might want to strike if it doesn't get its way.
So how do we solve this issue?
If teachers were made to earn tenure every four to five years, maybe we would see an renewed emphasis on excellence in the classroom. Once tenured, it appears as though our highly paid teachers have little in the way of incentive to get our kids to learn.
If you think I'm wrong, I invite you to go and meet a teacher who has less than four years of teaching in our schools and then meet one who has been here 25 years. The difference in attitude, energy, and excitement towards educating our kids is amazing!
What's clear to me and many I talk to is the current way of doing things is broke. I know it, the Superintendent knows it, and more importantly, the teachers union knows it, too.
Arguing about nominal changes in class size or boasting about the 5-10% who do well in class and scores isn't going to change anything. Its the other 80-90% that are being short-changed. District 211 has always boasted about how good it is, but the reality is we are only an average district with less than average results.
I give Roger Thornton a lot of credit. He has put a stop to the practice of saying yes to every demand. He has brought reason back to the administration of our schools and has actually been an advocate for the citizens served in District 211.
Is he flawless? Nope. Has he made mistakes? Yep. But for the first time in a long time we have something we have not had, and that's a Superintendent who truly cares about our children's education and responsible management of the money the citizens have given him to provide the best education we can to our children.
Mr. Braglia take note, if you or the teachers of District 211 think for one minute that the citizens of District 211 will be held hostage by unreasonable demands that end up bankrupting this district again, you sir, are sorely mistaken.
We did not vote for a tax increase in 2005 to bankroll your demands. We voted for a tax increase to bail the district out of bankruptcy. Your sense of entitlement is outdated but evident when you state, "District 211 is in a good position to pay the requested pay increase, especially after voters approved a tax-rate increase in 2005." What audacity!
In closing, if Mr. Braglia thinks that a strike is necessary to bully the district and its citizens into paying even more for mediocrity then they have to do what they have to do. If things are so bad in District 211, I might suggest to Mr. Braglia that he go and find other districts for his union members to teach in and earn as much as they do in our schools.
Once that happens, we can recruit new educators who care about education first and foremost. Education is and should always be a partnership built on trust between citizens, administrators and educators. It's clear that does not exist in District 211.
For those of you who aren't fed up with this sense of entitlement, you should be.
Steve Safley
Schaumburg