Lending Talents for District 56 Referendum
Katrina Davis-Salazar is an accomplished artist who has shared her talents at her daughters' school to the delight of staff and students. However,today her work has even more meaning for the Gurnee community.
Gurnee Grade School is the oldest of the four school buildings that make up Gurnee School District 56 and has suffered the whims of the DesPlaines River that flows just west of the playground. For decades, the flood waters have played havoc with the original school site for the Village of Gurnee, which now houses a kindergarten through eighth grade population of about 450.
In 1986, six feet of water covered the lower level of the school and the students, teachers, and staff were moved to the old Lakehurst Mall and the empty Wieboldt's store on the northeast side of a still active complex. Over the years, smaller emergency evacuations were initiated while teachers, staff, students, and community members joined to sandbag and preserve this dinosaur of a school.
Moving classrooms to higher ground, relocating the library, and actually placing students in other buildings until the waters withdrew. Rowboats were used to transport staff and fish could be seen flopping around in the park across the street with the accompanying stench.
The district has a chance to replace this school with a new building on Wadsworth Road near the Heatherstone subdivision where property was purchased in 2005 for this inevitable need. Taking advantage of maturing building bonds, lower construction costs, and government assistance toward the process, a community group has joined forces to get the word out to the public about this unique opportunity to become a reality.
District 56 is hoping to capitalize on the current climate by tearing down Gurnee Grade School, moving the students to O'Plaine School a few blocks away, and building the new school for the third through fifth grades currently housed at O'Plaine.
Having a K-8 building close to Viking Middle School, which provides band and choir classes,sports,drama programs,and other extra-curricular activities, allows for easy transportation during the school day for the older students.
Davis-Salazar wanted to show her support for this important vote by painting a mural on her garage door depicting the heart of the issues at hand. Knowing the garage door would be replaced soon, she designed her art to speak to her neighbors and the community at large in a special way.
Sending a message that a school is not just the building it occupies, but must also be a safe, secure and a healthly place for all the students who enter it each day.
Joining together by voting "yes" on November 2nd, will accomplish both a good climate for learning and a safe place- free of mold, leaky roofs, and seeping water pooling in the hallways. All that portrayed with an artistic touch, Salazar-Davis states, "The time is now..."