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Asma Akhras and Deborah Willoughby would be excellent members of the D86 Board of Education. Asma and Deborah understand the role of a board member. In contrast to the sensationalized image of members constantly engaging in contentious debates about the future of education, the real work of a BOE is incredibly boring. These two candidates care about setting students up for success, ensuring fair opportunities to quality education and ensuring the efficient use of district funds. BOE members have no substantive role in hiring...
I am writing to endorse Andrew Cotton for D86 school board member. His resume gives him the unique qualifications to represent Hinsdale families. As a business person with his budget experience and personnel and customer satisfaction, he brings a real business knowledge that will be an asset to the board and to the students of D86. — Helen Corsentino, Hinsdale...
In 2011 when I arrived in Hinsdale, I was struck by the strong sense of community endorsement of public education. As a certified educational planner and an independent educational consultantg who works with D86 teens, this was important to me. Over the last few years, I have been dismayed by the lack of vision and cohesiveness in D86. That is why I am supporting Asma Akhras, Kay Gallo and Catherine Greenspon for the D86 Board of Education elections on April 4. Asma is steeped in educational expertise and is a D86 parent,...
As a resident of D86 for nearly three decades, I’ve seen lots of different school board elections. I know firsthand the challenges of running for elective office. One cannot ignore the huge impact that schools have on our children, I’ve had a son and daughter graduate from D86, as well the significant value of our homes are influenced by the quality of our schools. Partly because of what I’ve seen, I have tried to be active in the Clarendon Hills Caucus where I am confident we’re putting forth an excellent and unconte...
There are criteria I want to see in a D86 board candidate, which include experience, passion, focus, intelligence, time, energy and integrity. Catherine “Cat” Greenspon encompasses each requirement equally. Catherine works with both of our local high schools to understand needs of students and/or seeing what activity she can join, or create, to assist whenever possible. I share a value system with Catherine that includes extensive service work with our local and surrounding communities. It seems wherever I am relative to our...
As a parent of elementary students, I am concerned about the un-piloted changes to grading and curriculum in D86 under the current administration. It may take years to get our high school back on track. This is why I support Kay Gallo for the District 86 Board of Education. Throughout her campaign, Kay has been clear and has not wavered from her position on these critical issues impacting our district. Additionally, Kay’s unparalleled prior experience on the board makes her well positioned for the monumental task of hiring t...
Tuesday, April 4, ushers in an extremely important election for the board of education for Hinsdale Township High School District 86. This community cannot allow voter apathy (historically 15-17 percent turnout) to define this election. There is simply too much at stake! With three open seats and five candidates, in order to put this District back on track, vote 2-3-4 on the ballot to get the best candidates seated on the board of education: Kay Gallo, Catherine Greenspon and Andrew Catton. Each of these three candidates has...
I wholeheartedly support Catherine “Cat” Greenspon for D86 BOE. Although I just met Cat during COVID, it feels like we’re lifelong friends. Cat’s life exemplifies a passion for education. In her 20s, Cat created Computer Labs in Cabrini Green, not just for children, but to provide parents access to the internet to apply for jobs. Her Infinite Green Project provided Chicago area STEM students opportunities to partner with scientists at Argonne National Labs and explore renewable energy sources as global citizens. Activel...
After the upcoming April 4 election, the newly seated D86 school board will hire a new superintendent and assistant superintendent for the district. Hiring the most qualified top two administrators for our community’s high school students is extremely important. I am voting for Asma Akhras, because we are fortunate to have a candidate in Asma who is an expert in curriculum and education. Asma was a math teacher and a licensed principal. She has a master’s degree in education and she trains principals and implements cur...
I have witnessed the integrity and thoughtfulness Asma Akhras brings to every discussion during the 18 years I have known her. Asma is the only candidate with expertise in education, which will be extremely helpful in guiding the important process to hire the next superintendent and assistant superintendent. Asma’s experience as a teacher, school accreditation expert and implementer of curriculum nationwide is invaluable to the D86 Board of Education. She knows how to use data to hold the administration accountable and e...
I am writing to express my enthusiastic support for Kay Gallo and Catherine Greenspon, who are running for the District 86 school board. Our community is fortunate to have two such highly qualified, intelligent and effective individuals willing to serve on the Board. Kay and Cat will play key roles in restoring stability to the district, reversing downward-trending academic performance and returning transparency to administration decision-making and board governance. Both are strongly committed to re-invigorating the...
Kay Gallo would make an excellent addition to the D86 Board of Education. As a 38-year resident of Clarendon Hills, Kay has experience having served two terms on the D86 Board and one term for D60 elementary. Kay understands what it takes to be on the board and there will be no learning curve. From the day she announced her candidacy, Kay had a list of priorities and objectives that she has not deviated from — her message is both clear and concise. According to Kay, with the district’s new grading system, there is “an incre...
On behalf of the Hinsdale Central Boys’ varsity basketball team, we send the Red Devil Nation community our sincerest gratitude. Thank you for attending the games, cheering us on and making this season so incredibly memorable for all who participated on court and in the stands or home-streaming. Also a special shout-out to our 2022-23 sponsors: Hinsdale Bank and Trust, Spartz Sports, Breakaway Basketball, Hinsdale Inferno, Piemonte Auto Group, Vein and Vascular Centers SC, Reddy Dermatology SC, Midwest Sports Medicine I...
I wanted to raise attention to a disgraceful political piece of mail disguising itself as real news. This week my household received a copy of the DuPage Policy Journal. If the name seems vaguely familiar it’s because this was one of last fall’s fake newspapers that were little more than political junk mail. Now with school board elections coming up, the imposter newspaper has returned from the dead (despite being widely called out and seemingly unsuccessful last time around). This time, they seem to be trying harder to hid...
I’ve had the good fortune to live in D86 for 26 years, with four children who have either graduated or are now enrolled in D86. I’m writing to ask my community to vote for Andrew Catton, Kay Gallo and Cat Greenspon for D86 school board on April 4. Sadly, I have witnessed a decline in academic standards, which, if unchecked, will do real harm to our students and community. Too often these have arisen from changes to academic approaches that are bad for both students and educators. Regrettably, the outgoing school board has...
I closely eyeballed the stop sign at the intersection of Fourth and Lincoln streets. It appeared to be in good working order. "STOP" was spelled correctly, the red was the appropriate hue and all eight sides were visible. No branches, bushes, parked vehicles or other man-made shrouds blocked its view. I was perplexed. If the sign was in good working order, why were so many drivers not fully stopping? Or ignoring it altogether? I thought about calling the manufacturer to ask...
Our house is a very fine house. When we moved into our split, it was a compromise of sorts. The house - around 50 years old - was not new, yet not really old. Instead, it was affordable and fixed up. Nice and new to us. No weekends would be spent rehabbing. A compromise because I'm an old house person and my spouse a new house person. Give me quirky layouts, stairs in the kitchen, musty smells from summers past, spirits left behind. My husband likes pristine. Fresh paint,...
Ann Grube didn’t intend to make history when she started volunteering with The Community House in 1983. She and her husband, John, had just moved to Hinsdale from Manhattan. “Someone said, ‘If you really want to meet people, you need to get involved at the Antiques Show at The Community House and you’ll meet hundreds of people,’ and that’s exactly how it began,” Grube recalled. Margaret Guido assigned her the job of public relations for the show, which used to be one of the...
“If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough,” the popular saying goes. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow — and with no disrespect to the Irish — we’d like to offer our own twist on the saying. “If you’re lucky enough to be a Hinsdalean, you’re lucky enough.” And so, we offer up the following reasons — an incomplete list, we admit — that Hinsdaleans have to feel the sun shining on their faces and the wind always at their backs. • the volunteers and philanthropists who are willing to share their time, talents...
I recently stumbled into a conversation about faith, my palms sweaty, my heart pounding. We were about to break the unspoken rule of dinner gatherings: no discussion about politics or religion in this cultural moment, the risk of offense is too great with ever-present land mines that will cancel you out of the relationship. But there we were, seated on the couch, while the dessert was plated and the kids' voices rang around us. I listened as we sipped our drinks and my friend...
Therese Moraleda of Hinsdale likely will make history as the first girl to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout with Hinsdale's BSA Troop 10. Moraleda, a sophomore at Hinsdale Central, joined the 100-year-old troop in September. A former member of Pathfinders, she was recruited by fellow Troop 10 member and good friend Shreemann Patel. "He told me all about his camping experience and showed me photos," Moraleda said. "I like being outdoors, and I have been camping before, but I...
On Tuesday it was reported that thousands of protesters in the nation of Georgia had clashed with police in the streets of the capital Tbilisi. It was the second day of demonstrations, with the police resorting to water cannon and pepper spray in response. The cause of the unrest? A parliament-backed draft law which critics say will limit press freedom and civil liberties. The bill would require non-governmental and media organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to declare themselves as...
If you are a local music fan of a certain age, then you are aware of the recent passing of WXRT DJ Lin Brehmer. Sadly, Lin died of prostate cancer this past January at the age of 68. I have to tell you, this hit me quite hard. I have been a fan of XRT since my high school days, and Lin has been there almost the entire time. I didn't really know him personally, although he was a friend of my sister's, so I had the good fortune of meeting him a few times at concerts. Jovial, hea...
Hinsdale’s first international celebrity just happened to be a woman. Loie Fuller, born in 1862 in the midst of a bitterly cold January, did not take long to discover her love of being on stage. “After Loie was able to walk, her parents took her with them to several presentations of the Chicago Progressive Lyceum, that early movement toward culture which few of the living still can remember,” Hugh Dugan wrote in “Village on the County Line.” “On one of these occasions, when Loie was two and a half, she slipped away from h...
Every year in grad school when we taught the short story "The Yellow Wall-paper" to our freshman writing classes, my friend David would use the opportunity to include a quick lesson on modern-day feminism. He'd ask his students to raise their hands if they were feminists. Few did. Then he would ask them a series of questions - should women be allowed to hold any job they wanted, should they earn the same pay as men for the same job, etc. - and asked the students to raise...
