'A very cool rock': How suburban kids made dolostone Illinois' state rock
swCooler than sandstone or limestone, and packing a punch of magnesium, dolostone became Illinois' official state rock Monday thanks to the efforts of junior geologists from the suburbs.
Dolostone forms much of northern Illinois' bedrock, but it's flown under the radar until a Burr Ridge fifth-grade teacher hoping to inspire her pupils amid the COVID-19 pandemic began a quest to find the state's quintessential stone.
“We started this project during a very crazy time,” Jennifer Lauermann said Monday at a bill-signing at the Morton Arboretum. “I was teaching in a cafeteria and it was a teachable moment that just exploded. A couple of kids started talking about rocks and we focused a lot of the year on geology.”
Using an online survey, students at Pleasantdale Middle School started with 10 rock contenders, then narrowed it down to three: sandstone, limestone and dolostone. Fourth-graders at Maplebrook Elementary School in Naperville partnered with Pleasantdale, and a majority of over 1,200 online voters favored dolostone.
On Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the bill making it official.
“Sandstone, limestone and dolostone. All formidable choices,” Pritzker said. “What ensued next was a heated campaign. Students didn't just make a case for the rock of their choice, they worked to persuade people and get out the vote.”
Pupils, who conferred with Illinois geology experts, described dolostone as one of the most common sedimentary rocks in Illinois, providing valuable soil nutrients and sturdy building materials. It was the cause of a “mineral rush” in Galena in the 1800s and forms some of the original stone at the old state Capitol building.
“I voted for dolostone because it's similar to quartz ... it's pretty see-through,” Maplebrook Middle School fourth-grader Max Napekoski said. “Dolostone is pretty much limestone, except it contains magnesium. It's a very cool rock and sometimes if you find it, it may contain a fossil.”
The survey gained momentum after U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove publicized the students' efforts in a floor speech, and state lawmakers Sen. Laura Ellman of Naperville and Rep. Janet Yang Rohr of Naperville shepherded it through the General Assembly.
For Maplebrook teacher Tanya Pardungkiattisak, the most meaningful take-away was “kids realizing they can actually make change.”
“In the last week of school, I said, ‘this might become a law.' And, they were like, ‘we're part of history!' To feel that, at such a young age, is so memorable.”
Dolostone joins the ranks of other Illinois heavy hitters, including the state amphibian, eastern tiger salamander; state animal, white-tailed deer; and state fossil, Tully monster.
Illinois State Geological Survey experts noted dolostone and dolomite are connected in that dolostone is the name for the rock and dolomite is the name for the mineral. And while similar. limestone is calcium-based and dolostone is magnesium-based.