Sorted by date Results 635 - 659 of 1148
Halloween is my second favorite holiday (live for New Year's Eve), but the Larbourd Oaks Mansion Ghost Tour left me with an awkward experience. Just after 10 p.m., I attended the adult tour where the guide informed us, "You can drink if you want, and you can say whatever the H you want." Some foul-mouthed guest, trying to be funny or get a laugh, was taking advantage of the no rules about swearing, and he ruined the tour. I felt sorry for the tour guide as it was probably the...
In response to your recent editorial, “No clear explanation for what’s going on in D86,” we believe that the new board’s resistance to the administration’s agenda is entirely clear. The April election saw an unprecedented shift of four seats away from the incumbents largely due to the community’s complete “lack of faith in the administration.” The previous board rubber-stamped policies and failed to question the administration’s often arbitrary, capricious and ineffective policies (e.g. COVID protocols, discussions of re...
It's that time of year for seniors - college application season. College applications are many things, one of which is not easy. Speaking from experience, they're a bit of a chore - sort of like cleaning my room, with added importance, of course. My room appears as if a hurricane spiraled through, with piles of laundry, snacks and my dog's footprints. I ignore my mom's texts to tidy up until she pounds on my door. I hear a constant knocking these days, reminding me to get...
Strategic Planning in 2018 and passage of the referendum in 2019 were signs of great progress in District 86. However, since then this community has seen a change of focus at D86. A high-performing district, D86 has seen a dilution of its rigorous science curriculum and seems to be driven by an equity statement formulated by the CELT committee during the pandemic. The equity statement, unlike the strategic plan did not include the whole community and was not board approved. Formed in 2020, CELT conducted a survey asking for...
I have mixed feelings about Facebook, but sometimes I can't help sharing the memories that pop up in my news feed. Just this week, Facebook presented a photo of Ainsley dressed as a Precious Pink Wabbit for her first Halloween. I couldn't help but share it. A lot has changed since Ainsley's first Halloween. Most importantly, I am no longer in charge of her costumes. This year, she is going as John Lennon (she can pull that off easier than her favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney)....
Zombies. Witches. Evil clowns. Executioners. Werewolves. Vampires. There’s plenty to be frightened of each Oct. 31. Equally horrifying is the following list of scary scenarios. Each year at The Hinsdalean, we come up with our own terrifying tales in honor of Halloween, imaging a variety of outrageous occurrences and their outcomes. Don’t be alarmed! Unlike evil clowns, this is all in good fun. • SNL writers get a hold of video from recent District 86 board meetings and are inspired to create another school board meeti...
We are baffled. We’ve watched and listened to the discussion of grading practices in Hinsdale High School District 86 from the Sept. 30 and Oct. 14 board meetings. We’ve been attending and reporting on school board meetings for decades, both at The Hinsdalean and other community newspapers. Typically when a board falls into a pattern of ill-tempered meetings that exceed four hours, it’s pretty easy to figure out the source and motivation behind the dysfunction. But that’s not the case with the current D86 board. Three b...
It seems some members of the D86 BOE have implicit trust in the administration and feel that there will be bumps in the road that will iron themselves out. And with the most recent grading alignment — which includes curves and retakes in some classes — they probably will iron themselves out, but only after wildly experimenting with student’s grades and emotions. Shoving higher weights to tests in student’s faces, in some cases with ratios weighted 90 and even 100 percent to summative assessments, upon return from a year of...
With the holidays right around the corner, it's time to consider The Fear-of-Death Diet. Of all the diets I've tried, none has been more successful than The-Fear-of-Death Diet. It's a lot like that well-known adage: "Nothing clarifies the mind like a hanging." Especially your own. I came across The Fear-of-Death Diet by accident at my doctor's office. Most of my "numbers" were not good. Since I was an avid, decades-long lap swimmer, I thought I could eat whatever I wanted. App...
I’ve been very interested in Buddhism of late. I blame this on Teri Goudie. She turned me onto Dan Harris after I complained that Eckhart Tolle’s book, “A New Earth,” was a bit too esoteric for me. Harris’ book, “10% Happier,” offered a more pragmatic approach, she told me. So I read the book, started listening to his podcast and got hooked. Buddhists like lists, and so do I. I especially like the Buddha’s first list, the Four Noble Truths. They are, as translated by H...
Ainsley and I took advantage of having Columbus Day off to do some back-to-school shopping. We headed to Yorktown, primarily motivated by the bubble tea store there. (We had visited the same spot Sunday, but misguided ordering had left Ainsley with a thick, sludgy drink rather than one filled with tiny bubbles that burst when you bite them. She wanted a make good.) A neighbor who also is the mom of a tall girl had given me some recommendations on stores we might visit. At our...
At a time when people of all ages continue to struggle with the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the anti-drug message of Red Ribbon Week is more important than ever. The weeklong campaign, which runs Oct. 23-31, has a different focus each year. The 2021 theme is “Drug Free Looks Like Me.” The week provides an opportunity for people to show their support for a drug-free America and to talk to children about making healthy choices. Red Ribbon Week was created after the death of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a speci...
Clarendon Hills Fire Department has yard signs throughout their town (“We Need Our Own To Save Our Own”) which are supporting the purchase of a new ladder/pumper truck to replace their old truck. I now hear that Hinsdale is considering sharing their older ladder truck with Clarendon Hills in an effort to save money for both villages. Is sharing a truck a wise idea? Things to consider: The truck might be housed in Clarendon Hills half of the time. This could cause a potential delay in response time when the truck isn’t house...
Thank you to all of our wonderful friends and neighbors. Claire, Michael and I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our friends and neighbors who took time to wrap and unwrap the trees with orange ribbons, placed the hundreds of luminaries all along our street, driveway and walkway, attended Joanne’s visitation and service and are now involved in the “meal train.” The ribbons and luminaries were a wonderful reminder of how our neighborhood gathers together to help each other and a beautiful sign of suppo...
I never expected to be where I am now. And I am everything I expected I would be now. I never thought I would be a single mom now. And I know I am a better parent because of that now. I never thought I would still not be in the career I want at age 45, right now. And I know that every day I keep learning, especially now. These seem like complete contradictions. Since I last wrote for The Hinsdalean, so much has changed, and these statements are completely true and in juxtaposi...
Ken Knutson’s recent article “D86 Board: Grading plan misses mark” got it correct in referring to “unveiling” the superintendent’s Learning Leadership Team grading plan, which potentially masqueraded under the purview of COVID-19 executive order practices. Knutson’s reporting disregarded the take-home assignment, however: motivation, self-esteem and anxiety are all at risk when summative tests prevail or dominate academic settings. He further omitted the acknowledgment from Dr. Chris Covino that there was, unfortunately, no d...
This week is National Newspaper Week. Surprisingly, I don't receive flowers or cards from friends and relatives. Just kidding. Most people probably aren't even aware of the week, but it's important to us. The theme of this, the 81st annual National Newspaper Week, is "Community Forum," and it's connected to The Relevance Project, a national effort intended to speed the resurgence of community newspapers in North America. We are fortunate that since we launched The Hinsdalean...
Hear a chirp, make a change! Words to live by, literally, as smoke detectors serve as residents’ first warning of fire in the home. Keeping the devices’ batteries fresh will help keep inhabitants safe. This is Fire Prevention Week, a time when fire departments across the country unite around a common message to remind people of the importance of being vigilant against fire’s deadly potential. The theme for 2021 is “Learning the Sounds of Fire Safety,” including, of course, the prompt to switch out the battery. Another t...
The room where my husband Mark and I wait with our dog Cody is sterile and smells like antiseptic. It never bothered me before, but now the bare beige walls and steel table seem harsh and mean. We sit in silence on the hard wooden bench. We've discussed every possibility. Everything's been tried and nothing worked. I've worn my glasses for a month now. My contacts get too fogged up when I cry. I scan my phone while Mark sits with his elbows on his knees, watching our dog....
October is Sudden Cardiac Awareness month. Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death of student athletes and death on campuses. One child dies every hour, every day from an undetected heart defect. We serve as junior board members on the just1mike foundation. The foundation was created to honor Michael Brindley, a Hinsdale Central student who suffered sudden cardiac death in 2016, playing basketball at 16 years old. The mission of the foundation is raise awareness and survival rates in teens/young adults through...
I can't help but chuckle at all the recent social media posts from parents dropping off their freshman kids at college. Could you people be any weepier? Come on! It's not like they're moving to the other side of the world and disowning you forever. I can laugh, of course, because I'm past that point in my life. I can also laugh because back in the day there was no more blubbering parent on the face of the earth than yours truly. As for my kids, they were just fine. In fact,...
If you’ve visited the website for HCS Family Services this month, you’ve seen some pretty funny pleas for donations. “Let’s roll with it!” “Nothing is impastable!” “Just pudding it out there” The seemingly endless scroll of catchy phrases encourages folks to donate everything from toilet paper to pasta to pudding during September, which is Hunger Action Month. The blurbs actually identify the top 30 needs for those served by HCS Family Services’ two food pantries, one at the Hinsdale Memorial Building and one at Anne M. Jean...
I still remember the first day I had to wear my poms uniform to high school my junior year. We had special briefs on under our skirts, but I was still very self-conscious about how short the skirt was - especially while taking off the sweatpants I wore to walk to school. By the time I was a senior, we had new uniforms with slightly longer skirts. And I had adjusted what some might have described as my overzealous modesty. Under a new state law, I could have worn leggings...
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of us in some way. While the long-term mental health repercussions may not be clear, the challenges of the last 18 months are sure to be taking a toll on many. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a time to acknowledge suicide as the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., claiming more than 45,000 people a year. The rate is particularly acute among younger people, and more than half of those taking their own life did not have a known mental health condition. Following the...
Mike Slonoff is getting married tomorrow. Fifteen years ago, when his father, Jim, and I started this paper, he was a senior at Hinsdale Central. We’d see him in the halls while we were working on a story (why wasn’t he in class, Jim would wonder) or spot him in uniform on the sidelines while covering a football game. Mike’s little brother, Matt, was a second-grader at Madison School in 2006. Now he’s a petty officer second class in the U.S. Navy. Fifteen years ago my daughter, Ainsley, had yet to be born. I lived in a differ...
