The Soapbox
Hats off to Mohawk:
Three cheers for Mohawk School for collecting its second big honor in five months. The Bensenville school became one of 167 named a Spotlight School this week by the state board of education for closing the achievement gap among disadvantaged students. In September, Mohawk was among only 19 Illinois schools to be named a National Blue Ribbon School.
How they got there:
Mohawk’s efforts are impressive. To garner the latest recognition, the district showed increases on state achievement exams in 2011. This came after 60 percent of students met or exceeded standards in 2010 compared to 50 percent a year earlier. At least half the district’s students are from low-income families.
Hope we’re wrong:
Forgive our skepticism, but can a plan to turn the site of the former Kane County jail and part of the Settler’s Hill landfill into a Ravinia-like setting with concerts, a conference center and hotel, and cross country and mountain bike venues be that realistic? Especially in this economic climate? But we’d love to be proven wrong.
Be the hero:
Our call to action couldn’t be as strong as Teagan Reid’s. The Rolling Meadows teen just celebrated a crucial 10-year milestone after a bone-marrow transplant to cure her leukemia. That decade of life was made possible by bone marrow donor Rita Zapien of Houston. It’s easy to get on the donor registry. See www.marrow.org to find out how.
Reality check:
OK, so the Super Bowl is regarded as the high point of the sports season when everyone comes together to celebrate all the magic that sports offers. Why, though, does it have to come in the same week in which the Bulls get drubbed in Philadelphia and the Blackhawks get pummeled in Edmonton?
Reality check II:
Maybe it’s just the yin-yang theory at work in the universe. If that’s the case, then those great advertising commercials coming our way Sunday will also be followed next week by other much-less entertaining and inspiring works on the level of the Sham Wow guys. Brace yourselves.
Suburban stars:
At least some athletes from the suburbs have been flexing their muscle. Last weekend we saw Algonquin’s Rockne Brubaker and Downers Grove’s Mary Beth Marley shine at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in pairs skating, as did Des Plaines native Agnes Zawadzki in singles. Their stars certainly look bright.
Delicious to the core:
We try not to play favorites when it comes to food businesses, but we can’t help but lament the closing of Long Grove’s Apple Haus. For four decades it helped draw thousands of visitors each year to the village’s festivals and quaint shopping district — and for good reason. Who couldn’t resist a warm cider doughnut on a crisp fall day?
Déjà vu:
Sixteen years after a regional shopping mall proposal in western Lake County fueled a border war, a new plan is on the table. The project in unincorporated Lake County already is met with opposition from North Barrington and Hawthorn Woods. Let’s hope this discussion is free of the rancor and legal action of its predecessor.