OPEF is featured in the latest issue of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation's newsletter, along with a story about one of our Global Village projects. Thank you to the Community Foundation, and its many donors, for supporting us!
It's been a fun and productive camp experience for more than 100 kids, ages 7-12, who attended OPEF's first BASE Camp this June. Check out our pictures of:
- Architecture Adventure students constructing a miniature city and exploring architectural landmarks from around the world. They worked with professional architects and their tools, creating a mind-blowing city using 3D models, and learning Google Sketch Up design.
- Vex Robotics students designing, building and programming remote-controlled robots from scratch, with help from their teachers and some high school mentors. They held 2 scrimmages to compete and test the various skills of the bots they created.
- Geared Up students designing and building machines that work (like a cart, a clock, a windmill and a robotic dog) using Lego Motorized Mechanisms kits. They faced numerous design challenges, tested their models and improved them as they went. The students also designed and created bridges to see how much weight they could support.
Photos are by Oak Park photographer Paul Goyette.
UPDATE: You can see more pictures from BASE Camp's Architecture Adventure program here. Thanks to Oak Park Photographer David Kindler.
BASE Camp, OPEF's summer program, is going on now! Read all about this year's BASE Camp staff here.
[Clockwise from upper left: Marty Noll, Eric Gershenson, Deb Abrahamson, and Tom O'Loughlin]
We recently talked with a few Oak Parkers who were instrumental in establishing and developing OPEF into what it is today: Marty Noll, president of Community Bank of Oak Park & River Forest and first OPEF board president, Eric Gershenson, one of the first OPEF board members and former D97 board member , Tom O'Loughlin, early OPEF board member and former D97 administrator, and Deb Abrahamson, current OPEF executive director.
How did OPEF get started?
EG: This foundation was born in crisis [in 1989]. We had just barely survived a real fiscal crisis in the district. We had run the first operating-funds referendum in decades. We went almost immediately into strategic planning and part of that was the need to raise non-tax based resources for the district.
MN: [Foundations] raise money and give it away. We, early on, wanted to be involved in programs.
How were some of the Foundation's programs born?
EG: We thought at first that this was just going to be about raising dollars. The Global Village model taught us that what we had was an opportunity to leverage the volunteer time of all these phenomenal scientists.
MN: We thought we'd have a program that would go for a year or two and then we'd move on to something else in case it flopped! Global Village is now 19 years old. No one wanted to let it go.
TO: The community in the classroom idea was the catalyst for developing the second program. We put out a call for ideas to the community. We got about 45 ideas and from that we got Technology in Motion.
MN: How do we get it to kids in 10 schools though? We figured let's not bring the kids to the tech but the tech to the kids. So Tom called up the bus provider for the district and asked if they had an old bus they could give us.
TO: Tom Kapusta, a volunteer and an architect, went to an RV show to get ideas about how to refurbish the bus. And from 1994 to 2000 we had the 'tech bus.' We had an editing studio on the bus, and the district didn't have that kind of capability. But by 2000, not only did the district have it but everyone's home computer had it too! So it was time to move on. We did another call for ideas. Deb Abrahamson [now OPEF executive director] sent in a plan revolving around art. She joined the committee to develop the program and then headed it up.
DA: Vex Robotics came in 2004. Mark Pickus, who had run the tech bus, came to us and pitched the idea. He acquired equipment, got teachers and other community volunteers, such as Bob Parks, involved.
How did you convince Oak Parkers to contribute charitable dollars for school programming?
TO: To get this off the ground, the program had to have sizzle. It had to be attractive, and it had to have some depth. One of the kickers was that community members, [Marty] and others, were willing to put up some dollars out front.
MN: I got the job of being president of the board and I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. We had to raise funds, we had this commitment, and we had to find programs to be successful. Those first five years were exciting, let me tell ya!
EG: We had to make the case to people that these programs were but for the Ed Foundation. Marty and I went around to local banks to get them to make challenge grants and we met the challenges.
TO: There were other sources of fundraising too. 3-on-3 basketball tournament ran from 1995 to 2003. We got $25,000 for Technology in Motion and later $20, 500 for Art Start from Ronald McDonald's Children's Charities. . . . It was Marty's idea after Bill Staszak died [former village board member who supported 1989 school referendum] to hold a dinner as a fundraiser.
How did you get the enrichment programs into the classrooms?
MN: The concern was we'd do all this work and not have the teachers let us into the classrooms, so we ran the risk of some kids in the district getting the enrichment and others not. We couldn't do that.
TO: As programs were being created, there were teachers involved, so that there was some ownership. Kathy Botticelli [former Global Village program coordinator and D97 teacher] and Jack Fagan [former superintendent] had the foresight to go to those teachers who were science oriented first and sold it to them. Then their buddies wanted in on it too.
EG: What was really important is that we had someone who understood what teachers dealt with on a regular basis, what their challenges and needs were. I think the interface was spectacular. What distinguishes Oak Park's Education Foundation is the way in which the teaching staff was organized and galvanized to continue to generate these really creative processes.
TO: My time involved with the Ed. Foundation was probably as satisfying and rewarding as anything I've ever done in terms of being able to develop programs and sit in on that. And to see how we grew over the years. You see where it is now and it's really something. Feet are on the ground!"
All are welcome at the Oak Park Education Foundation's student Art Start exhibit on Saturday, May 22, from 12-4 pm, at 200 Harrison Street in Oak Park. The exhibit is part of the Oak Park Arts District's What's Blooming on Harrison event. This year's event highlights the work of "Emerging Artists."
Come by and enjoy the display, which will include quilts, a mural, "stained glass" designs, paintings and stitchery. Children are invited to participate in our "Make Your Own Masterpiece" activity table, raising money for OPEF, for $5/artist. In addition, the Oak Park Education Foundation will host a juice & cookie reception for student artists and their fans from 2-4 pm.
OPEF's 6th annual student art show/auction, hosted by Fly Bird, was again a smashing success! Thank you to Fly Bird, a design-oriented gift shop at 719 Lake Street in Oak Park, to our talented District 97 6th graders from both Julian and Brooks middle schools who created beautiful ink paintings of birds, their creative and dedicated art teachers, and all of you who bought their work! All proceeds from the auction benefit OPEF's Art Start program.
Click here to see photos from the auction display at Fly Bird by Oak Park photographer Paul Goyette.
OPEF's 16th annual William C. Staszak Award Dinner was our most successful fundraiser ever, netting more than $55,000 to fund Vex Robotics, Geared Up, Art Start, Global Village and Architecture Adventure in the District 97 public schools.
The evening honored Jan Pate, CEO of the West Cook YMCA and Trustee of the Village of Oak Park. OPEF also named Fly Bird, with owner Julian Nash, as our Business Partner of the Year. The wildly popular live auction was hosted by award-winning filmmaker, artist, attorney and Oak Park dad Mike Cramer.
Click here to see photos from the dinner.
Click here (PDF) to check out the fabulous items in this year's Staszak Dinner auction. Choose your favorite items now, and plan your bidding strategy for the evening!
This year's William C. Staszak Award Dinner to benefit the Oak Park Education Foundation will take place Saturday, April 24, Oak Park Country Club, 2001 Thatcher Avenue in River Grove, Illinois. The festivities begin at 6:00 pm, and include both live and silent auctions, featuring one-of-a-kind vacation homes, sports and show tickets, food and wine, behind-the-scenes tours, and much more. Tickets to the Staszak Dinner are $125 each. Mike Cramer, award-winning filmmaker, artist, attorney and Oak Park dad, will host our live auction. Contact Patti at (708) 524-3026 or pquilling@op97.org for more information or tickets!
This year's honoree is Jan Pate, CEO of the West Cook YMCA and Trustee of the Village of Oak Park. The dinner's award is presented in honor of William C. Staszak in recognition of his outstanding commitment as a member of the Board of Directors of the Oak Park Education Foundation. He was also a very popular trustee of the Village of Oak Park. The award recognizes those who demonstrate the humanitarian spirit, devotion and service exemplified by Bill Staszak.
Fly Bird, a design-oriented gift shop at 719 Lake Street in Oak Park, is now hosting its 6th annual student art show and auction through May 2. District 97 6th graders from both Julian and Brooks middle schools, working with their art teachers, have donated their time and talent to create beautiful ink paintings of birds in Sumi-E style. All proceeds benefit the Oak Park Education Foundation's Art Start program.
Bidding starts at only $10, with a $30 "Buy It Now" option. Bids can be made via email, phone or in person. Frame Warehouse is offering $25 discounts on framing.
For more information, contact Fly Bird at headbird@fly-bird.net, or 708-383-3330.
Architecture Adventure student works are on display in the windows of 119 N. Marion Street in Oak Park, as part of "Architecture Week in Oak Park." The exhibit will extend beyond the week through April 30. Stop by and take a look!
The show includes large-scale chess pieces modeled after landmark buildings by Whittier students, large-scale building models for a miniature golf course designed by Longfellow students, designs for a green home by middle school students, elaborate landscape designs by Irving students, computer-generated 3D drawings by Lincoln students, and geometric stained glass designs in colored acetate by Lincoln students.
Through Architecture Adventure, District 97 students learn about architecture by working with visiting architects, designers and construction professionals, designing and building projects and taking field trips to Chicago and Oak Park sites of interest.
Numerous other events are planned for Architecture Week in Oak Park, including scavenger hunts that are part of the Oak Park Architecture Photo Party, coordinated by the Oak Park Architectural League.