Speaking in Class

I spent yesterday talking to 2nd, 4th and 5th graders. I had a great time as always. The kids asked great questions, about the Rain Forest, recycling and gave me great answers as well. When I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up one kid (who will go far, since he was very clever) told me he wanted to be a placemat!

Leadership Day on Friday

On Friday about 30 village officials and staff participated in Leadership Day, at Indian Hill Middle School. As always I had more fun then the kids did, and they had fun! I got three young ladies who were, fun, sweet and oh so talkative! OMG, For Sure, LOL!!!! (The picture is of left to right me, Shelby, Emily and Andrea)

The day started with me picking them up at the school and then immediately running into a reporter who interviewed the girls and rode around with us for about 2 hours taking pictures, so the girls were excited about being celebrities (me too for that matter)!

First stop was the 7-11 for refreshments. Diet Coke, Candy and other caffeine products were loaded into the car for the tour of the village. We visited the village hall, my campaign HQ where they scammed on some free t-shirts, then it was off for a tour of the police station where we then met the other kids for pizza.


After lunch we joined the Public Works kids for a trip to a water tower where we looked around inside and then Davis Clark our Director of Public Works did a pressure check on a hydrant at the base of the tower to demonstrate the water pressure. Quite impressive!

We had lots of fun and laughed pretty hard at Andrea's inability to open car doors, Emily's constant giggling, and of course Shelby the motor mouth! Plus I got them back by 7th period, much to their disgust!

Reading in Schools

Recently I have been reading in schools quit a bit, recently I have read in Village schools to 4th graders, earlier this week I spent 3 hours in another district school reading to 1st graders and some 3rd graders. I also read to a Sedol class as well.

Today I am reading in Ellis School. Why am I reading? Well because its the National Education Association Read Across America week! I must say that I enjoy every minute of the time I spend reading or talking to school kids, I have spoken to literally every grade in the last seven years!

The picture is from a talk I gave about the history of Round Lake recently to some 4th graders, more then likely I am pointing out the wise guy in the class! Why? Because I used to be one, of course I am not any more!

Talking to 4th graders at Village School

This is the 8th year that I have talked to fourth graders at Village school. Yesterday morning was the day! This years class was very bright, engaged and asked some great questions. I was grilled on immigration, the environment, where I lived, and many more questions. All in all a great morning!

Sobering thought however that the first group that I spoke to 8 years ago, are graduating from High School later on this year. That amazing since I have not aged at all! Many thanks to Mrs. Fainman for inviting me!

Big Hollow Referendum

NOTE: Phil Carter the co-chair of the Big Hollow Referendum committee asked me to publish this on the blog. This in no way constitutes my endorsement one way or another of the referendum. I will say I have been terribly impressed by the energy, commitment and vision Phil brings to the process. For more information you can go to the citizens support group here at www.supportbighollow.org.

The Big Hollow Referendum: A Good Investment

The Big Hollow School District is asking the community to approve a $10-million working cash bond on February 5th. The local residents and businesses are rallying behind this referendum for the following reasons:

• It addresses a real district need. Big Hollow currently ranks last in instructional expenditures per student, next to last in operational expenditures per student, has the highest average class size in Lake County, and has cut art, music, and computer programs. In addition, the District had the 3^rd largest drop in State testing results (ISAT) from ’06 to ’07 in the county. These trends in the learning environment and academic performance represent a stark contrast to the historical strength of Big Hollow’s educational values.
  
• It is affordable. While still a significant financial commitment to be sure, the working cash bond currently offered by the District represents a reasonable investment. Out-of-pocket cost to most homeowners (median home price of $280k taking standard deductions) is around $32 per month. The working cash bond retains all the State aid given to the school and would be immediately available to pay off the District debt (~$3.3M). This maximizes the value of bond revenue to the district.
  
• It will make a huge impact. Restoring basic art, music, and computer programs in the ‘08-’09 school year will have an immediate, positive effect on the daily lives of 1,500 school children. In addition, reducing class sizes (some projected over 40 students) to more acceptable levels will clearly improve teacher-student contact time essential for learning. Finally, the Big Hollow Community regains the benefits and reputation associated with a quality school system.
  

The well-documented explosive growth in enrollment at Big Hollow coupled with the education-funding formula in Illinois clearly puts a disproportionate financial burden on local property owners (greater than 75% of school funding from local property taxes). The combination of tax-cap legislation (PTELL) and underfunded, government-mandated programs highlight deficiencies in educational funding especially in areas of proliferating enrollment. Nonetheless, these are the circumstances and challenges facing the Big Hollow Community that must be overcome to provide a reasonable educational opportunity to the children.

For its part, the District has managed its per-pupil expenses to the lowest in Lake County, slashed services, cut programs, and sold its property on Rt.12 (contract pending) for $5M. The anticipated proceeds from the sale, while helpful, will be insufficient to handle all the operational needs and will miss the near-term timing requirements for the next school year. Big Hollow has a track record for effectively managing voter-approved building bond referenda on-time and within budget. This same fiscal responsibility and commitment will ensure proper utilization of any approved funds for district operations.

While these are challenging economic times, I urge even more residents to look at the tax increase for what it really is: An opportunity to invest in the community and restore a measure of quality to Big Hollow’s longstanding tradition of strong educational values. On February 5^th, let’s get the school and community back on track by voting YES. For more detailed information, please visit http://www.supportbighollow.org.

No Tax Rate Increase Referendum

NOTE: This was sent to me by the referendum committee I am running it untouched. My daughter is at the left, the Grant Womens Track and Field team, has finished 4th, 8th and 7th in State in the last 3 years (small brag now back to your regularly scheduled blog).

Grant Community High School is offering the community a unique opportunity on February 5, 2008. Through effective long range planning, the school district is able to offer the taxpayers $38.5 Million in bonding for needed facility expansion with no tax rate increase. This is the District’s response to managing the growth that will increase the school’s enrollment from its current 1,745 to a forecasted 2,300 by the year 2014. The facility’s current capacity is 1,750 students.

Grant has demonstrated sound fiscal management by balancing its budget every year since 1997. There is no request for an Education Fund increase, since that fund has a strong balance. The District completed their prior major construction projects on time and within budget. They rebated $2.9 Million to taxpayers after one of the projects. They saved taxpayers $3.2 Million by refinancing existing debt. Developer impact fees were used for the 2005 library & classroom addition. The effective use of independent demographic studies for forecasting enrollment growth has allowed the District to time the facility expansion needs with an alignment of bonds in 2008 that will not require a tax rate increase.

A support group called Grant Citizens Helping Students (GCHS) has been at the forefront of supporting this referendum effort. Referendum information may be found at www.gchs2008.org or by asking Paul Jakstas at pjakstas@aol.com or Kim Schnoor at homesale1@mindspring.com.

A Fellow Blogger on School's and Taxation

One of my acquaintances for the last few years is a gentlemen named Lennie Jarrett who is an activist crusading against taxes specifically against schools and the Grayslake ones in particular. He has a blog (EducationMatters) that is quite well thought out and executed. I usually go read his blog once a week or so to see whats going on in his world and I came across this video which is part of this post.

Last Monday was District 46's ribbon cutting and open house for Park School. There was a wonderful crowd on hand with lots of kids and parents to see what the school was like.

I am excited to see this finally get open and moving forward. Its seems like only yesterday that I was doing this on the site!

I saw lots of people I knew which as an elected official is always nice!

Board Meeting and School Tour

Before our board meeting last week we met with the Facilities Manager for District 46 who took us for a tour of the new school. Its quite nice and spacious, with lots of nice touches. Its nice to see the progress they are making towards opening this fall

Saturday was one Busy Day

Had quite the busy day yesterday, I attended my sixth consecutive Round Lake High School Graduation. Saw lots of kids that I have met over the years graduate, which was very exciting. Trustee Dale Multerer, Don Newby and Brian Brubaker were on hand, along with just a handful of other elected municipal officials.

I then went over the street of summer grounds to judge the Car Show and award my Mayor's Choice trophy. Which rather then award to a Ford Mustang as I always seem to do, I gave it a 1950's Ninety Eight Oldsmobile (I think that's what it was) which had the biggest trunk I ever seen in my life!

I then went and raced sailboats on Long Lake, and candidly I should have stayed at the Fest, we were terrible 8th out of 10. A bad day on the water usually means you are soaked, and I was.

So after that I went back to the Fest and watched Denny Diamond, the Jimmy Buffet look-a likes, and then the Ides of March.

Before the main event I got on stage and thanked our committee who put together the festival, and out trustees who were intimately involved as well.

I forgot my reading glasses, and I had scratched out my notes for my talk on the back of 3 business cards so I almost forgot to introduce Brian Brubaker and Dale Multerer, because I could barely see the cards in my hand with the spotlight shining in my face. So sorry about that guys!

Leadership Day

Last week Trustee Sherry Perkowitz organized for the Round Lake Area Leadership day, which we have done for the last couple of years and our staff took 12 kids from the 116 middle school and showed them what goes on in a village. The highlights seemed to be Deputy Chief Francis Foy, showing a video of his greatest traffic stops, and Public Works Director Davis Clark opening a fire hydrant to flush it and sending water 100 feet into the air. Also participating were Village Administrator Marc Huber, Finance Director Steve Shields, Police Chief Cliff Metaxa, and Village Engineer Erika Frable. The kids seemed to have a great time by the time I joined them for pizza, so a special thanks to Sherry for setting it up, and for our staff for giving up time for the kids.

Village School Auction Tonight-- Cool Auction Items

Today there is the annual "Auction for Art" at Village School tonight from 6:30 to 8:30. Last year I auctioned off a day with the Mayor, but it kind of morphed into "Drive the Mayors Golf Cart in Parades Day's" instead.

My usual driver "the first daughter" decided to retire for a variety of reasons last year, the most pressing one was her inability to awake before noon on parade days, plus her actual drivers license meaning cars are cooler then golf carts. Since I get out of the cart and walk most of the route I need a driver. So since I was unable to hook up with the auction winner from last year to spend the day with him. I asked him if he would drive my golf cart for me instead, which proved to be a much better idea from his standpoint!

This time I am doing it differently, you get to drive the golf cart in all parades, and get a class visit from me. There are some age considerations here however, which are explained in the fine print.

Last years winner has vowed that his parents will pay any price to secure his parade driving status again! Sounds like the "Auction for Art" will be the winner here! Just so you know the golf cart we use has does not look like the Hummer golf cart at the left!

Election Results

Yesterday was election day, and we had two major issues in the area that were decided. The first the trustee elections, and the second for 30% of the community, the Big Hollow School Referendum.

The Big Hollow School Election was a quite emphatic second time no to the district on increasing the rate. There were active supporters on both sides of this equation with the vote shaking out as follows.

		Percent	Votes
YES		32.63%	572
NO		67.37%	1,181
			1,753

The other issue was the the three trustee spots up for election in the village, between Trustee Sherry Perkowitz, Trustee Michael Blum, former Trustee Dale Multerer, and Rose White.

		Percent	Votes
Michael R. Blum (UN)		25.14%	580
Dale D. Multerer (UN)		25.18%	581
Sherry B. Perkowitz (UN)		26.31%	607
Rose White (IND)		23.36%	539
			2,307

Congratulations to the three winners (bold above) the interesting number here is 2307, if you divide that by 3 you can tell that around 700-800 people voted. There are 6,400 registered voters in Round Lake so thats around 12% voter turnout, which is a shame. Four years ago in a the off year election we had a turnout of 11% so I guess that is better sort of.

Free Stuff---Grant High School Value Card

I have four Grant High School give away cards that have a cash value of $20 apiece that are good at various places in the area like Tom's Cafe in Johnsburg, Domino's Pizza in Fox Lake, Austins in Libertyville, Billy's in Spring Grove, Pizza Hut in Fox Lake, Potestas and Buffalo Wild Wings in Round Lake Beach.

I will conduct my typical random drawing for these giveaways on Sunday night. To enter email me here and I will get the discount card to you as soon as I can. Please make sure you would actually use the card before entering however!

Village School Art Program

A long time Round Lake Resident and active member of the Village School PTO Shelley Trump sent me this email letting me know whats going on with a marvelous program at Village School.

I wanted to let you know about the great art programs that are happening at Village Elementary School in Round Lake.

Last Spring we held an auction to raise funds for art programs at Village. This year, with those funds, we have hired local artist, Andrea Zachotina, to create an ArtSmarts Program for our students. Mrs. Zachotina has been visiting each classroom and teaching the students about famous artists and their styles and techniques. Thus far, these visits have taught the students about color theory, pointillism, portraits, and watercolor techniques. This week she will conclude her visits by teaching about Henri Rousseau. The students will learn how to create jungle art using colored pencil techniques. Mrs. Zachotina will be at Village all day on Tuesday, Feb. 27, Wednesday, Feb. 28, and Friday, March 2.

To conclude our ArtSmarts Program, we are holding an "ArtSmarts Night at the Museum" on Friday, March 9th, from 6:30 to 8:00pm at Village School. Each student will submit 2 works of art from the ArtSmarts Program, and these will be hung around the halls and gym for a wonderful display of over 1000 works of art. This event will provide the students an opportunity to proudly exhibit their artwork.

Mrs. Zachotina will return to Village School in April to work with our 6th grade students to create a jungle-themed mural for one of our cafeteria walls. Last year's 6th graders left a flower garden mural on another wall.

On Friday, April 20th, we will hold our next "Auction for Art" at Village School from 6:00 to 8:30pm. This will be both a silent and live auction. We are currently seeking donations for this event and hope it will be even more successful than last year so that we can continue providing opportunities for our young artists to express themselves at Village School.

If you have any questions, please contact Shelley Trump, Village School PTO Art Committee and Auction Committee. (847) 546-7835 or trumpj2@hotmail.com or Village School (847) 270-9470. Thanks!

COMMENTARY-- Gangs Part 1

This is the first of a multiple part discussion of gangs. There will be another part that discuss some of the steps that our police are taking in conjunction with the other police departments in the area to combat gangs in the area. Much of the information gathered here is from the following two sources (here and here) in addition Police Chief Cliff Metaxa helped quite a bit.

The existence of gangs in the Round Lake Area is not a new or recent phenomenon. The following is a brief discussion of the history of gangs and specifically Chicago based street gangs.

Gangs in the United States have been traced back to the post Revolutionary War days and originally formed as a means of self-protection and as social clubs. In the early nineteenth century, Irish immigrants formed the first street gangs in New York City. By the 1920's, the city of Chicago is reported to have had over 1300 gangs in the city

In the 1960's a "youth group" called the Black P-Stone Rangers developed into a criminal organization. The group's leader, Jeff Fort, united the leaders of some 50 area street gangs into a single organization, the “Black P-Stone Nation”. The group was controlled by a 21-man commission, self-titled the "Main 21". The leaders projected the group as a socially conscious, self-help organization that would help uplift themselves and their community. As a result of this premise, the group sought and obtained $1.4 million in federal anti-poverty funds. These funds were then used to support the group's illegal activities. A federal grand jury uncovered the funds mismanagement and Jeff Fort was sent to federal prison.

The perceived success of Fort's Black P-Stone Nation resulted in the formation of many other street gangs, which claimed to be politically and socially motivated. Of the groups that surfaced, many dropped to a level of disorganization, while others developed into sophisticated, highly organized groups involved in prostitution, robbery, burglary, extortion, and drug sales.

Two very influential gangs, the Black Disciples, led by David Barksdale, and the Gangster Disciples, led by Larry Hoover, followed Fort's example and unified their gangs to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation. Throughout the 1970's, the Black P-Stone Nation and Black Gangster Disciple Nation controlled the Chicago drug trade and became bitter rivals expressing their anger by creating the bloodiest gang war in Chicago's history.

During the 1980's, within the prison walls, gangs began separating into alliances. The two alliance names that emerged were the “People Nation” and “Folk Nation”. All gangs that were originally aligned with the Black P-Stone Nation aligned with People Nation. Those that were originally aligned with the Black Gangster Disciple Nation aligned with the Folk Nation.
Many gangs or "sets", as they are called, are aligned with one of the two Chicago alliances. The more prevalent groups are shown below by alliance.

People Nation Sets

• Black P-Stone
• Latin Kings
• Vicelords
• Spanish Lords
• El Rukns
• Bishops
• Gaylords
• Latin Counts
• Kents

Folk Nation Sets

• Black Gangster Disciples
• Black Disciples
• Gangster Disciples
• La Raza
• Cobras
• Eagles
• Latin Disciples
• Maniac Latin Disciples
• Simon City Royals
• Spanish Gangsters
• Two Sixers

It is very common for Chicago-based gangs to maintain charters, constitutions, recruiting documents, and other written materials. These documents are almost always in cryptic code or subliminally hidden in artwork. Rules and codes of conduct must be strictly followed. Those members who choose not to participate in a gang activity are subject to disciplinary action or "violations".

Graffiti is used by gangs to communicate with fellow members and rivals. Disrespect to a rival gang or their members is accomplished by displaying rival symbols in a disrespectful manner. The disrespect of symbols communicates hatred toward the rival group. This type of graffiti encourages retaliation. The most effective method of preventing this activity is to quickly remove the graffiti in order to reduce the amount of recognition gained by the act. Notify local authorities and request the removal of graffiti.

In the Round Lake Area, you can contact CenCom at the non-emergency telephone number (847-270-9111) to report graffiti. In the Village of Round Lake, the village code 9.16.080 states:

It shall be the duty of the owner of the structure or wall upon which any inscription or representation prohibited in subsection A of this section is made, to block or remove such inscription or representation or to otherwise repair or restore the structure or wall to its prior condition within twenty-four (24) hours from receipt of notice of such occurrence.

If you have any questions about gangs you can contact your local police department. If you live in the Village of Round Lake you can contact the Round Lake Police Department at (847) 546-8112.

First Look at the New Magee School

Here is a concept plan of the new Magee school plan at the corner of Cedar Lake and Hart Road. This project will be the third major building project that 116 has had in the last few years. The middle school in Round Lake Heights and the Early Education Center in Round Lake, and the addition to the High School are the others.

The district is quite well positioned with facilities now and with its return to solid financial footing under the excellent leadership of the SFA and Dennis Stonewall we can expect improvements for years to come!

School District 116 Lauded for its Turn Around!

Dennis Stonewall the CEO of District 116, sent me this article from "Managing School Business" about the Districts turn around. When I took office the district (about 25% of Round Lake is in District 116) was bankrupt, staff morale was at all time low, and all anyone wanted to do was blame someone else.

When the state stepped in and imposed the over site committee I went along with the process more from a feeling of, it can't get worse then it already is then from one of optimism! The real reason I was supportive was the availability of special interest rates and funding options from the state that I felt could start the recovery. I was unsure of the level of commitment and or leadership we would get to manage the turn around. That over site committee eventually hired Wally Korpan as Chief Financial Officer and Dennis as Chief Executive Officer.

In a pleasant surprise we got leadership willing to make tough choices, and hiring and retaining quality leadership at the education level. Anyone who has seen Dr. Jeff Brierton Principal at the High School can attest to the fact that his brand of leadership and educational motivation work and in spades! The district has turned around completely and while this article does not talk about it, scores are up dramatically, which in the education world is the bottom line!

NOTE: I am unable to upload the PDF of the newsletter if you want a copy...so emails to me here!

Round Lake High School hosts Great Lakes Sailors for Holiday Dinner

One of the really nice things the Round Lake High School does each year is host roughly 250 sailors from the Great Lakes Naval Training Base at the High School for a holiday dinner.
The event is run by the National Honor Society, they cook a meal and entertain the sailors. This marvelous opportunity to volunteer or just stop by and say thanks happens December 16th from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Gang Awareness Program-- Joint Meeting with the Other Round Lakes

There was a superb program coordinated with out local Police departments for our hispanic population talking about gang awareness and how the area police departments deal with gang issues in the area. There was a very extensive program with quite a bit of audience participation covering a wide range of ideas and concepts. I would guess that nearly 200 people attended. I commend the area police department and district 116 for grabbing the bull by the horn.

The highlight was the talk by a Round Lake Beach Police Sergeant who was excellent in both English and Spanish! I learned tons of things!