Music Man Jr.

What a rare treat it was to be able to enjoy Lakeview Junior High School's presentation of the Music Man Jr. last week. It was a great show and the students did a spectacular job! It appears that almost 1000 people were able to see the show during its two day run. Congratulations to the cast and crew and directors Jenny Berman and Kristy Mixon on a wonderful show.

Budget Update

Governor Blagojevich announced Friday that he will release the last two General State Aid payments in June instead of July. This is good news and will bring relief to many school districts in the area. In terms of the the development of the new state budget, there is a great deal of independent activity taking place in both the Senate and the House. As the deadline for adjournment arrives at the end of this week it will be interesting to see what plan or plans emerges from Springfield in terms of s budget of a new budget.
Stay tuned!

Tuesday Morning Ladies Bowling League

It was great to be invited to the Banquet for the Tuesday Morning Ladies League today. This group comprised of primarily Center Cass moms, bowls every other Tuesday morning at Brunswick Bowl in Woodridge. For many years this group has made a donation to each of our schools to allow the schools to provide something extra for our students. At today's banquet, the league donated $580 to each school. These gifts were gratefully accepted by Principals Hansen, Schultz and Windsor. If you would like to join this group next fall watch for the announcement in September. New members are always welcome. We certainly appreciate the support of our Tuesday Bowlers!

Ide Playground

When I was visiting Elizabeth Ide School this week I had the chance to go out to recess with the First Graders. As you can see,the children love the new playground that was installed last summer. This wonderful addition to our school facility was developed by the Ide PTO and with the support of many parents, community members, businesses and the Board of Education. The playground was dedicated last August!

End of the Year Activities

As the school year comes to a close there are still many activities ahead for the last 13 days. This week the Lakeview Drama Club will be presenting the Music Man Jr. This delightful show is an abridged version of the original Meridith Wilson show and features a large cast of actors, singers and dancers. The show is directed by Jenny Berman and Kristy Mixon and will play this Thursday and Friday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available at the door.

Each year there are special activities for our graduating 8th graders. This year they will take their annual trip to Six Flags on May 29, 2008. The Eight Grade Dance will be held on Monday June 2, 2008 with the Graduation Ceremony following on June 3, 2008 at Lakeview Junior High School beginning at 7:30 p.m. Admission is by ticket only.

Elementary students will celebrate the end of the school year with picnics at Ide on May 30th and at Prairieview on June 3rd. The last day of attendance will be Thursday, June 5th. Summer School classes will begin on June 9th.

Springfield Update

The State School News Service reports that “public faith in policymakers is now below that minimum level. The three legged stool that supports such confidence – a sense of sound fiscal stewardship and acceptable performance ratings at both the executive and legislative branches - seems broken. All three legs are about to fall off”. Consider that the State is consumed by debt with little flow of revenues, the Governor continues to be distracted by the Rezko trial and claims of corruption, the Senate and House are divided and moving in different directions. We have been admiring this situation for a long time, it still seems as though there is not enough support for our leaders to lead! This situation is very disheartening for those of us who depend on good policymaking from our elected officials. Stay tuned this week to see what develops as the General Assembly tries to complete its work by May 29th! Will cooperation develop? Will rationale thought prevail? It doesn't appear likely.

Spring Sports Season

The spring sports season has ended with conference tournaments and meets concluded over the past weekend. Congratulations to our Girls Soccer Team coached by Joyce Wilson on winning the conference! Thanks to all of our athletes and coaches for providing the opportunities for competition this spring. Teams competed in Track and Field, Volleyball (Boys), Soccer (Boys and Girls), and Swimming. In the next two weeks will end our many activities with our final music programs and drama production. It has been a successful year for District 66 students.

Ide Chicks Hatch!

Last week the annual “Baby Chicks” multi-disciplinary science unit came to a successful conclusion as a dozen or so baby chicks were hatched in each of our six first grade classrooms. In this several week long unit, students learn about the scientific method by conducting experiments, making observations and collecting data. In addition to these activities they read books about chickens in literature as well as studied the process of how an egg becomes a baby chick. The learn new vocabulary and spelling words that are derived from their study on the chicks. Guest lectures are presented by people who raise chickens and share their knowledge with our students. Needless to say, there has been a great deal of excitement running through the first grade wing at Ide as teachers and students have been awaiting for the first egg to hatch. Now that the chicks have hatched they will be given to people that raise chickens. Many thanks to Mrs. Amish, Mrs. Sis, Miss Tracy, Mrs. Riadi, Mrs. Onorato and Mrs. Cornfield for their excellent planning and execution of this science unit.

Latest Blagojevich FY 09 Budget Schemes

Could it be that Governor Blagojevich is coming back for a third attempt to sell public assets such as the Illinois Lottery to the private sector and use future dollars that should belong to our children's children? Based on information coming out of Springfield, that indeed may be the case, as the Governor is desperate to find a way to fund a capital construction project and increase funding for education without raising taxes. The lack of a capital spending bill will eventually cost Illinois several billion dollars in Federal funds due to Illinois.

The plan to sell the Lottery has been changed slightly this year by leasing 80% of the Lottery for a 50 year time period for a reported $10 billion front-end payment and then $200 million per year for the 20% the state would retain ownership of. Highlights of this plan would create a $3 billion fund to be spent over the coming 25 years to guarantee the funding of public education at a level of at least $600 million per year above current levels. This plan may find resonance with some legislators who are desperate for a capital plan.

The problems with this funding plan is that is it very short on detail, the Governor's lack of credibility in following through on funding agreements, and most of all the lack of support for the selling of assets such as the Lottery by Speaker Madigan and members of the House. Let's see what happens in the next couple of weeks!

Democracy Stalled by General Assembly

Last week four separate bills were rejected that would have given citizen the ability to have direct input on two key issues facing the State of Illinois: the fiscal crisis and the ability to recall elected officials for non-performance. Two versions of bill designed to allow voters to decide on the issue of a graduated income tax were killed after a great deal of partisan rhetoric. Obviously the general public is not capable of making such a decision on their own! The other legislation would have granted us the right to recall elected officials and to no one's surprise, our legislators decided not to take a chance that citizens could remove them from office for failing to complete their computational duties. These actions will further muddle the process of solving the staggering fiscal crisis that surrounds us.

As the General Assembly attempts to meet its adjournment schedule of May 29th, several important deadlines are coming up soon.

May 9th Senate bills out of House Committees
May 15th House bills out of Senate Committees
May 23rd House 3rd Reading of Senate bills
Senate 3rd Reading of House bills
May 29th Adjournment

In the meanwhile, as the flurry of bills works through the system a budget will need to be crafted and that will be the PROBLEM!

Lakeview Bands Sweep Branson Competition

We are so proud of our Lakeview Spartan Bands; Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble for their outstanding performances last weekend in the Music in the Parks Competition held in Springfield, MO. These groups under the direction of Teachers Tom Tedeschi and Brian Ohlsen performed at a very high level and won several awards. The Wind Ensemble placed first in the middle school concert band division with a Superior rating and were selected as the Outstanding Band in this category. The Symphonic Band placed second with a rating of Excellent. The Jazz Ensemble placed first in the middle school jazz band division with a Superior rating and were selected as the Outstanding Band in this category. Michael Ruth, alto saxophone was selected as the Outstanding Jazz Soloist for the weekend.

While in Branson the students had the opportunity to explore the World of Predators Zoo, enjoy a “Duck” tour of Table Rock Lake with some students even driving the amphibious vehicle and have dinner at the famous Dixieland Stampede show before returning home with their many trophies. Congratulations to Mr. Tedeschi, Mr. Olhsen and our fine musicians for a job well done!