Nice!

We continue to have a great deal of interest in our blog. Even when we don't post anything, people stop by. We take great pride in the amount of awareness we are raising in our community. Take a look at our stats for the last week and see for yourself!

Summary (Everyone's Voice)

10th September 2010 00:08:56

Daily | Weekly | Monthly | Quarterly | Yearly

Day	Date	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Friday	10th September 2010	0	0	0	0
Thursday	9th September 2010	58	44	29	15
Wednesday	8th September 2010	57	43	25	18
Tuesday	7th September 2010	66	58	48	10
Monday	6th September 2010	27	24	16	8
Sunday	5th September 2010	29	21	10	11
Saturday	4th September 2010	39	28	18	10
Friday	3rd September 2010	40	31	19	12

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School board president: Ed reformers ‘just don’t get it’

Charlotte Hummel is the president of the Board of School Directors of the William Penn School District in Pennsylvania, which serves approximately 5,500 students. She recently addressed the district’s professional staff with powerful remarks, which are unusual in that they are highly critical of education reformers.

In this speech, she offers a different vision of education and says to the staff: “I see my job as standing firmly between you and those who are misguided in their beliefs about what education is and just how hard it is to go about the job of educating our youth.” Here are Hummel’s remarks: 

Thank you for inviting me to speak today. I have been looking forward to this moment for nine years, which is how long I have served on the school board. It is in the last 8 months that I have had the privilege of serving as your school board’s president. I must say up front that I don’t intend to avoid the political in my remarks. In fact, it is my job to be political...

Despite the national and state political movements which purport to improve education – movements I think of as being based on the idea that “the beatings will continue until morale improves,” I have come to firmly believe that those of us who know what public education is really about – like those of us in the William Penn School District family – those of us in this room, others who work for the students in the district, the parents, students and community – must adopt and live by our own philosophy, a new approach to how we approach public education and that is: “We are wearing our own Ruby Slippers.”

Of course, where national and state policy and practice make sense we should embrace it; but where it doesn’t make sense -- like funding schemes that ensure apartheid education and community disintegration, the turning of children into data generators, teachers into script readers and test proctors and administrators into Pavlovian competitors for the next race for the money – in those instances, we should and will speak up, point out that the emperor has no clothes and take the rational albeit radical path of resistance.

We must not, as they used to say in the civil rights movement – participate in our own oppression. So it’s a good thing that WPSD has one of the most radical superintendents and school board presidents in the state when it comes to speaking truth to power. We are wearing our own Ruby Slippers and you’d better not be stepping on our toes.

So what do I mean by this? Well I have come to realize – and to tell anyone who will listen that no one – not the state or federal government, not the major foundations or education think tanks; not those who run charter schools or who propose vouchers; not those who purport to have simple answers to complex questions or who offer quick fixes to long-term challenges – no one who currently holds positions of leadership and power in our governments is going to save us.

They simply just don’t get it. They don’t realize what true education is and they have no clue the challenges we face in helping students engage in it.

So, we have to take matters into our own hands, look to each other to find our strengths and possibilities, marshal our resources, count our blessings and save ourselves.

As I have told my daughter and countless young women, Rapunzel didn’t have to lament her fate in the tower, she didn’t have to waste away alone and isolated, she didn’t have to waste her time and potential in waiting. Had she been thinking differently, she could have cut off her own hair, tied it to the bedpost and rescued herself decades before the prince appeared on the scene. If you think about it, even after he did show up, she still needed to provide the rope.

I look forward to this new year, this new beginning.

You have my respect, my admiration and deepest appreciation for what you do to teach and empower our young people to learn – about themselves, each other and the things they need to know to make their way in and contribute to the world.

I see my job as standing firmly between you and those who are misguided in their beliefs about what education is and just how hard it is to go about the job of educating our youth. Joe [Joseph Bruni, Superintendent] and I speak truth to power, we ask for your support, your ideas, your encouragement, insight and perspective. I have no doubt we can overcome whatever challenges lie ahead. So, let’s click our heels three times and let’s get going. 

'No Child Left Behind' Means a Race to Nowhere

From the Huffinton Post

Kari Henley ~writer, speaker, founder of KH Consulting

Posted: August 29, 2010 10:00 AM

For the first time in history, all children were expected to produce equally, a mold we had never put them in before. While some children are academically oriented, others are creative, or more "hands on." What is the end result? Teachers are teaching to the test so they don't lose their bonus, administrators rely on state exam results to receive funding, and kids are the losers. Students learn to spit out information, and forget it 10 minutes later.

Teaching to the test (have you seen Dr. Wick's tutorials?), and overwhelming kids with content, while eliminating recess (our middle schoolers get less and less recess every year), field trips (Pleasantdale only allows two field trips a year per grade level down from four two years ago) or project based learning has created kids who are stressed out, sleep deprived, cheating to get by, not having time to learn how to think. Some call American education "a mile wide and an inch deep."   

...most weeknights are spent fighting over when to get the homework done, and it becomes the dominant family conversation night after night. In fact, in order to keep the peace, many parents often end up editing, correcting or even doing the homework for them -- which is effectively teaching them to cheat. What sort of message does this send? Family time, private time and leisure time have tumbled to the bottom of the priority list.

To read more go to  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kari-henley/school-life-no-child-left_b_697248.html

Great Article!

http://www.oprah.com/relationships/Are-Your-Children-Burnt-Out

Testing and Miseducation

Publication Date: 2010-08-18

  By Dr. Joseph A. Ricciotti i  

This is from Fairfield Minuteman News Center, August 18, 2010.
Dr. Joseph A. Ricciotti is the Teaching Internship Program Director, Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions at Fairfield University.

As we approach the beginning of a new school year, we find that education is in a crisis primarily due to the standardized testing mania that currently exists in the country. Teachers and parents need to ask themselves if the emphasis on testing and the time devoted to test preparation is helping to improve education, or whether education is being negatively impacted. Experts in the field of education such as Diane Ravitch, author of The Life and Death of the Great American School System, strongly believe the culture of testing, which began with 'No Child Left Behind' (NCLB) and is continuing with 'Race to the Top'(RTTT), is spreading through every school in the country. Ravitch believes the consequences of these misguided programs are "toxic" and students and teachers will suffer its consequences. She cites how most schools today devote far too much time to "drill and practice" in preparation for testing and not enough time to subjects such as history, science, the arts, geography and, as ridiculous as it may seem, even recess is being curtailed in many schools.

Likewise, the noted child growth and development specialist, Dr. David Elkind, author ofMiseducation and The Hurried Child is very concerned about what is happening in many schools which are attempting to teach academic skills to preschoolers and kindergarteners as an outgrowth of test- driven instruction. As a result, he claims, we see many symptoms of stress in young children including headaches, learning problems, and even depression.

The pattern in schools across the country, both urban and suburban, is one in which Elkind describes as a "downward extension of the curriculum." In other words, what used to be taught in first and second grade is now being taught in kindergarten. This, in Elkind's words, is what he refers to as "miseducation" which, unfortunately for many children, can result in lifelong emotional disabilities.

Like all educational fads that come and go, the testing mania will soon be history. It is, without doubt, one of the worst educational fads to ever hit education and, unfortunately, with the present Secretary of Education, Mr. Arne Duncan, who is currently the most vociferous advocate of testing with his 'Race to the Top' program, it appears that testing will be with us longer than most teachers would have hoped for or anticipated. Duncan's misguided notion of education reform is based primarily on test scores and it is, indeed, a radicalized notion that even espouses evaluating teachers' classroom performance on the basis of how well their students perform on standardized tests. Ironically, Secretary Duncan is also proposing national standards and one would have to assume his rationale for national standards and tweaking tests to be harder would be that tests are better and more reliable if more children fail them.

Instead of this obsession with standardized testing, shouldn't we as educators and parents be questioning the entire concept of whether testing constitutes educational reform?

Hence, it is time for teachers to consider strategies in order to deal with the current sterile environment in education brought about asan outgrowth of NCLB and RTTT programs. Needless to say, it will be a very challenging and high-stakes battle as test-prone administrators, as well as local school boards, legislators and the State Boards of Education will place teachers in an adversarial position in this crucial struggle. It is critical for teachers to maintain a philosophical outlook that denigrates testing by attempting to spend a minimal amount of instructional time on this dastardly task in order to free up more time during the school day for real learning. Secondly, communicate with parents in your class the difference between test preparation,which is superficial learning based on facts, dates, etc., and real learning in which students learn how to think, research and develop a real love of learning. The only way teachers can overcome the pressures imposed on them by the testing zealots is to have parental support. Do you recall what happened in Scarsdale, New York when parents said “enough is enough” regarding time wasted on preparing students for testing and were able to put a moratorium on standardized testing. We need an army of parents collaborating with teachers who are vocal and who know that testing is bad for kids in order to help bring about real educational reform in this country. If enough parental support can be generated to rid the nation’s schools of the standardized testing burden, I guarantee that local school boards and politicians would change their tune.

And finally, we need to end what Secretary Arne Duncan is doing by financially rewarding states and school districts with additional funding who meet the goals of his misguided 'Race to the Top' program. His concept of reform is inequality at its worse and, in essence, many school districts, especially urban schools, who do not meet these rigid standards will only be made poorer. This is what happens when a non-educator is appointed to a position of educational leadership who doesn’t have the credentials or educational expertise that an educator in this position would have. Mr. Duncan's critics believe his leadership is based on fear, repression and punishment and that his policies are incompatible with the goals of public education. One would be naive to think that overturning the testing mania is an easy task as there are powerful interest groups that are leading the high-stakes testing game. As teachers and parents, we need to make our voices heard at the local level and we need to defend the concept of the neighborhood school. We must vehemently strive to rid education of the so called "top-down" type of leadership and educational decision making as reform can only be effective when grass roots are established and educational reform moves upward not downward. We must also preserve, at all costs, the sanctity of the neighborhood school concept. It is in the neighborhood school in which teachers and parents are empowered and where opportunities will be provided for decision making by teachers and parents who are closest to the child. This is truly the essence of sound educational reform. 

Quote of the Day...

"Education is not a race to anywhere - it is a lifelong journey." ~ Priscilla Gutierrez

RTN!

Are your kids in this race?

Race to Nowhere

By Director, Vicki Abeles

Film Synopsis:
Director Vicki Abeles turns the personal political, igniting a national conversation in her new documentary about the pressures faced by American schoolchildren and their teachers in our achievement obsessed public and private education system and culture. Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people across the country who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried students aren’t developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids, Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired.

Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.

For more information, please contact via email

Or call  925.310.4242

Now Coming to local theaters!

Glencoe Central School, Meisner Auditorium, Glencoe, IL	Sep 30 7:00 pm	Glencoe		Tickets
Chicago Waldorf School, Chicago , IL	Sep 30 7:00 pm	Chicago		Tickets
The Lake Theatre, Oak Park, IL	Oct 2 10:00 am	Oak Park		Tickets
The McAnich Theater, Glen Ellyn, IL	Oct 4 7:00 pm	Glen Ellyn		Coming Soon

Pleasantdale School Board Meeting 05-20-2009

Promises

A year and a half ago we promised to help improve communication in our district by video taping all board meetings and uploading them for public viewing. We are keeping good on that promise. 

We realize that many families and residents have busy schedules and are not able to attend local board meetings. However, a busy life should not preclude residents from seeing and learning what goes on at Pleasantdale School and Park board meetings. It will undoubtedly take a while to upload all the meetings we have on tape, but little by little we plan to get that done. 

We have chosen to upload the board meetings to www.youtube.com for a few reasons. First of all, it is searchable on the World Wide Web. Secondly, it has faster upload speeds than Blogger. Unfortunately, uploading video to "Youtube" does have it's drawbacks. First of all, the video quality is greatly diminished. Secondly, the tape must be broken down into 10-15 minute segments. Hence, there will be several parts to each meeting. 

We hope these videos will serve as a bridge to communication for the residents of this community. While the Pleasantdale School Board and administration like to talk the talk about communication goals in our district, we are walking the walk. 

This should come as no surprise...

Brad Martin resigned at the last park board meeting. He didn't even show up to tender his resignation, but that's par for the course.

During the first 16 months of his 72 month term, he accomplished what he planned: to renovate a facility on the taxpayers'dime to house his sister-in-law Sue Keck's volleyball leagues.

How's that for a personal agenda?

Let's hope his replacement will serve the residents of this district rather than themselves and their family!!

Guess who's not coming to tonight's park board meeting??

Anyone? Anyone??

Will the other two amigos show up? Only time will tell!!

Peace

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Holocek Family.

2010-2011 Pleasantdale Elementary School Bus Schedules

Pleasantdale 2010-2011 Bus Schedules

Things That Make You Go HMMMM!

July 14, 2010 Pleasant Dale Park Regular Board Meeting. Enjoy the antics!



School board meetings coming soon!!

And Without Further Adieu...

The Pleasant Dale Park June 24, 2010 Board Special Meeting!

Enjoy!

More meetings to come!!!

First Grade Update

We missed the July school board meeting last Wednesday night. It was the first meeting we have missed in the last two and a half years.

We contacted board member Mark Mirabile for an update on what transpired with the 2010-2011 first grade enrollment issue. Apparently, board members aren't allowed to discuss what happens at open board meetings with members of the public after the meeting. All information must be filtered through Mark Fredisdorf. Mirabile, who headed up the Communication Committee last year, would not convey any information on what happened at the open meeting and directed us to contact Fredisdorf.

So we emailed Fredisdorf for an update and never heard back from him.

So much for increasing communication in our school district, huh? Actually, we are not surprised. Fredisdorf filters all information in our district. This is exactly why we videotape board meetings. If you're not there to see what transpires, you will get a filtered down version via the board minutes or none at all.

Anyway, a parent was kind enough to contact us to let us know the details of the meeting. We learned that there are currently 93 kids in the first grade class and a fifth section will be added. The classroom will be located adjacent to the library in close proximity to the other first grade classrooms. Preschool teacher Jeanine O'Connor will be moving to first grade and the district is currently seeking a new preschool teacher with experience in special education http://www.d107.org/Administration/Employment.aspx.

This shuffling around of staff leads us to wonder about something...


Fredisdorf stands by the Bright Beginnings preschool program and claims it is the best around. If this program is so stellar, why is he moving an "effective" teacher that has been there for the last 10 years out of the program to teach at another grade level? Hmmm....

Is Fredisdorf is trying to look good on paper? Is he trying to cut costs in this money losing program by hiring a new teacher who will be paid much less? If this is correct, the direct loss for this program will decrease by about $30,000. Hmmm....

Whatever the reasons, we wish Ms. O'Conner and the first grade class the best in the 2010-2011 school year!

Park Board Meeting Recap and Sidewalk Grant Info.

Boy, oh boy, park board president Colleen Pettrone's friend John Wawak must REALLY need a job!

That was more than evident at the July park board meeting. In an effort to bring the Chalet "to the next level," she wants to hire her friend who is an I.T. professional. She thinks this guy is just the ticket to get more people into the Chalet and increase their sponsorships and revenue flow. How about hiring a park and recreation professional? Or better yet, a marketing professional. Oh, wait, they had one that they let go when they needed to free up salaries because they were short on money. Why anyone would dump their one and only marketing professional just as they are re-opening a newly renovated facility is really beyond reason.

Pettrone went head to head with Ernie Moon about the wonders her friend will do if just given the chance. She wants to give this guy a one year contract to work part time from his home to bring the Chalet out of its financial slump. Wasn't that what the renovation was supposed to do?

By charging their main tenant, Brad Martin's sister-in-law Sue Keck, HALF of what other
facilities are charging for court time, they will never get out of their financial slump. The Chalet rents their court space for $25 per hour. The Max in McCook charges $65 per hour. The Chalet is quite a bargain for Keck, don't you think? No wonder she transferred almost all the practice sessions from McCook to the Chalet. Does she pass this savings on to her players?

Presently, there is no one in charge at the Chalet with a park and recreation background. The last manager they hired over there was fired after less than two months. The assistant manager is a political hire who has no experience running a facility or in parks and rec. Now they want to hire an I.T. guy to "fill in the holes?" How about hiring someone that knows what they are doing???

When Colleen brought up a motion to hire Wawach, it was not seconded by either Moon or Burke. This left Pettrone quite stymied and she stated that she will bring this matter up every time they meet until it is approved. Get ready for a secret special meeting in the near future when Brad Martin and Wade Brewer are available for this to pass.

During the consent agenda, Ernie Moon brought up the $2500 monthly payment to park lobbyist Bob Molaro questioning if the park is getting any return on the $30,000 per year they are doling out for his "services." Pettrone quickly jumped to Molaro's defense as did a member of his staff in the audience but neither could pinpoint one thing that Molaro actually did other than the $389,000 that was promised to the park over a year ago. None of which has yet to come through. Pettrone stated that they paid Grant Seekers  $1600 per month and got nothing in return. Hmmm, so now they pay almost a thousand dollars per month more and still have seen nothing in return? That makes a lot of sense. It would be understandable if the economy and the financial outlook for that state were different; there might be monies available that Molaro could seize, but that does not appear to be the case at this time. Maybe they should put him on a commission basis instead of a monthly salary. That would surely save the park money and they would only have to pay out based on a return. Just something to think about.

Other issues that came up included a discussion of the 4th of July. The fireworks were again spectacular and if you watched them from a location other than the park district, you really missed on a wonderful ground show and the musical montage that accompanied them. The park is looking for ways to raise funds for 2011 and if you are interested in joining a fundraising committee contact Katherine over at the park district.

As a side note, we had a chance to speak with Willow Springs Mayor Alan Nowaczyk after the park board meeting who assured us that the sidewalk grant has not gone by the wayside. He stated that the village engineers are doing some preliminary work on it. The Village of Willow Springs has less than five months to get this together or they will lose this unprecedented opportunity. If the Pleasantdale School Board and superintendent Mark Fredisdorf reached out to Mayor Nowaczyk in regard to this project, it might help to become a reality. But, hey, this is Willow Springs we're talking about. If it was Burr Ridge, Fredisdorf would be all over it. He has yet to contact the Village of Willow Springs in regard to this grant. Of course that goes both ways. Has Mayor Nowaczyk reached out to Fredisdorf?

We challenge any of the current school board members to add this matter on a future agenda for discussion. It will be a sure sign whether they can think and act independently of Fredisdorf or remain puppets of his. Will they have the guts to put the safety of kids first? Only time will tell.

Tsk, Tsk, Tsk...Park Lobbyist in Hot Water

Ex-lawmaker waives tuition for supporter's family

Molaro OKs $94,000 despite children not meeting requirements

June 01, 2010
By Stacy St. Clair and John Chase, Tribune reporters

Year after year, state Rep. Robert Molaro doled out publicly funded scholarships to the family of a longtime political supporter, ultimately giving the four children more than $94,000 in tuition.

For more info. click on the link below.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-06-01/news/ct-met-new-legislative-scholarships-20100601_1_general-assembly-scholarship-program-southwest-side-district-lawmaker

Shocker!

We received an email from a parent that got a phone call from a board member regarding the enrollment for the 2010-2011 first grade class.

Apparently Superintendent Fredisdorf is going to recommend a fifth section of first grade for the 2010-2011 school year at the July board meeting. Hallelujah!!

While we are happy he is making this recommendation, we are actually quite shocked that he is doing this, as he doesn't like to set precedents. We wonder if this decision will carry through in future years if this class remains large.

We surmise there could be a number of reasons for his decision:

•  This class has a higher percentage of at risk kids (most likely from the overcrowded kindergarten classes) than in previous years as stated at the June board meeting.

• There are less kids entering kindergarten resulting in fewer sections so he is able to move a teacher around without disrupting the "specials" schedule much.

• He doesn't like the opinions on our blog and wanted to prove us wrong.

• There are some pretty influential parents in this class putting pressure on him.

• He is finally seeing the benefits of small classes in the primary grades.

• It is an election year and he wants to make this group of parents happy.

Whatever the reason, we feel this is the right thing for an affluent district such as ours.

Now if only he'd wake up and smell the coffee on the benefits of  a full day kindergarten program...

Paging Brad Martin...Mr. Martin, please come to the park district...

Oh Mr. Maaartinnn, you missed another park board meeting! Let's see, is this the sixth or seventh meeting he's missed in the last 11 months? Honestly, we've lost count.

Didn't Martin change the meeting nights to Wednesday's because they were more suitable to his work schedule when he forced Carol McMurray's resignation  from the board? So why is Brad absent from so many park board meetings?

Why did he even bother running for office if he's never going to come to the meetings? It seems rather convenient that once the half million dollar Chalet renovation to benefit Martin's sister-in-law's volleyball empire was complete, he lost interest in the park district.

Or maybe, just maybe, he no longer lives in the district he represents.

Quick Update

Pleasant Dale Park

• New board member appointed - Kevin Burke. Let's hope he can stop the runaway train and turn things around at the park.

• June Special Meeting recap: Board members Moon and Burke absent. Board president Colleen Pettrone wants to appoint a friend of hers named John Wawack to be a consultant at the Chalet. John Wawack  wants $42,000 plus full benefits in return for 80 hours per month consulting the park district on how to improve the Chalet (that's 20 hours per week of work and it was indicated that many of these hours would be worked from his home). Guess that renovation is not as successful in bringing in much needed revenue as they thought it would be. Pettrone wanted to approve this consultant's "contract" though nothing specific was in writing much to the dismay of park district attorney Michael Cainkar. The matter was tabled until the July 14th meeting so the park attorney can draw up a contract. Oh, and there was not going to be anything specific in regard to what this consultant was actually going to do or get accomplished because they don't want to limit his potential. And one more thing, John Wawack is an I.T. professional with no experience running a park and rec facility. We know this may seem hard to believe, but it is all on video tape if anyone wants to see the lunacy that transpired at that meeting. 

• Actual documents pertaining to a contract or rental agreement between park board vice president Brad Martin's sister-in-law Sue Keck and the park district still have not been tendered in a Freedom of Information request. This most likely means that no actual agreements or contracts exist between the two parties in regard what monies are being exchanged for court time. All those taxpayer dollars that went into this renovation to benefit Martin's family and the park district has nothing to show for it. Oh, but the parking lot is crowded every night. So why won't they show us the money!!

• The next board meeting is July 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Pleasantdale School District 107

• On the agenda for the July meeting will be the 2010-2011 enrollment of the first grade class. Many parents feel that the current enrollment of 93 students is too high for four classrooms. They'd like to see a fifth class added. We say don't count on it. It will be too much of a disruption for Superintendent Fredisdorf to deal with. He won't set this precedent. He hasn't done it in the past when enrollment was as high, and he won't do it now. Some excuses will be that enrollment dropped, the classes aren't that big compared to other schools in the area, he will find some research study supporting this decision, he will add some aides to   make things better, blah, blah, blah. Five parents showed up at the last board meeting to express their concern. Five parents. When he had a room packed with parents, many of whom had to stand, he did not sway on a previous issue. Five moms certainly won't sway him either. We'd like to think Fredisdorf puts kids first, but he just won't. We hope he proves us wrong at the July meeting.

• The next board meeting is July 21 at 7 p.m.

Village of Willow Springs

• Still no word on beginning construction in regard to the Safe Routes to School Sidewalk Grant - but don't hold your breath. Why Mayor Nowaczyk would forfeit $400,000 in money to benefit the children in our village is beyond us. It is almost like political suicide. A recent visit to the village hall was quite an eye opener on this issue. When asked what was going on with the grant, village clerk Adena Baskovich stated the village was "waiting for the money to come through." Umm, hello?? This is a reimbursement grant!! If village officials would get their heads out of the sand, they would go through a state letting process to garner the money needed for this project. The mayor keeps stating that a on a previous project they were never reimbursed and that is why they are leery of this one. The reason they were never reimbursed is because village officials never filled out the required paperwork and that is why the money never came through. Why would Nowaczyk give the go ahead to apply for this grant and waste all that time and money if they never planned on following through? Maybe the mayor should start surrounding himself with smarter people to get things done for the benefit of the residents of this village.

• The next village meeting is scheduled for July 22 at 7 p.m.

2nd Annual Family Camping Weekend

A great time was had by all! Thanks to everyone that attended. 

Just some of the kids that were there!

Late night movies at the campsite.

Hanging out.

Getting ready for a slumber party!

Adiós

We apologize for the lack of updates. We are working on some posts and will publish them shortly.

In the meantime, we wish to bid a fond "farwell' to Pleasantdale Park board vice president Brad Martin. His house is under contract and he will be moving.

Let's hope his reign of error at the park district will soon be over.