Editor's Notebook

Are We Going Overboard In Banning Sweets from School Valentine's Day Parties?

Are we ruining kids' fun on Valentine's Day and other holidays by banning sweets at school parties?

Continuing the great “Trick or Toast” debate where second-graders were served toast and cream cheese as opposed to candy last Halloween, we asked our Oak Lawn Patch Facebook fans how they felt about cake and candy being served at their children’s Valentine’s Day school parties. We garnered plenty of comments from readers with children in Oak Lawn schools. Here are a few of their responses, including two of the “toast” moms from Oak Lawn-Hometown Dist 123: Jacqui Cook Podzius: “NEVER! We got a reminder in the letter home about the party that all treats must conform to the healthy guidelines or they would be sent home. Of course it's that one cupcake at a school party that's responsible for a kid being overweight, not the crap he or she eats…

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RobertS

2:25 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012

Geez!!! I suppose you hate Halloween too?!! What is wrong with giving heart shaped suckers or a couple of sweets out?!!! I assure you, my mind is creative but I also believe in traditions and I think we were raised much better than most of the kids are today. Yeah, a dance is wonderful, so are all the other things you mentioned, but I don't see why candy is has to be banned. We all want that box …   more ›

Ridgeland District 122 Looks to the Future

Grade center study, 2013 referendum among District 122's goals identified in all-day workshop.

Devising a new academic year calendar, switching from neighborhood schools to "grade centers," seeking a referendum to help pay operating costs and improving communications with taxpayers are among the long-term goals proposed by a group of parents, teachers and staff for Ridgeland School District 122. A group of 30 people spent all day Saturday in the main dining room at Stony Creek Golf Course in Oak Lawn formulating goals at a workshop facilitated by the Illinois Association of School Boards. District Superintendent Tom Smyth, who also attended the meeting, said he would present the goals and notes from the workshop to the full school board early in 2011. It will then be up to the board to evaluate the goals, set priorities and …

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Let the Races Begin

Candidates and challengers ventured out on a frigid Monday morning to file their nominating petitions and statements of candidacy for local elected offices.

Incumbents and challengers ventured out early on a frigid Monday morning to file their nominating papers for the April 5, 2011, municipal election. Candidates for the village and library boards started lining up at village hall before Oak Lawn Village Clerk Jane Quinlan's office opened at 8:30 a.m. to file their required paperwork to get their names April's ballot. The filing period for open seats on the village, library, park and school boards officially started this morning. Candidates are required to gather signatures on nominating petitions equal to at least 5 percent of the total vote turnout in their respective districts or at large elections in the last municipal election. Candidates running in suburban Cook County municipal races …

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Lorraine Swanson

10:47 pm on Monday, December 13, 2010

Thanks, P. This is what community news is all about and I am privileged to bring these types of stories to Oak Lawn. Patch will be covering the local elections in depth. You and other readers are free to contact me anytime with story suggestions and other feedback for Patch's election coverage.   more ›