LF_090816

10 | September 8, 2016 | The lake forest leader school
LakeForestLeader.com
Deer Path Middle School-West
appoints new assistant principal
Danielle Gensburg
Freelance Reporter
Mike Field
has been appointed
as
the new assistant
principal
at Deer
Path Middle
School-West Field
in Lake Forest.
Field is a 12-year educator,
with experience both
in and out of the classroom
working with administrators,
teachers and students
in the areas of social studies
and technology.
“What I enjoy most
about education is connecting
with people — teachers
and students — and learning
about their passions and
finding ways in which I can
help support them in furthering
their passions and
truly becoming great learners,”
Field said.
The Lake Forest Elementary
School District
67 Board of Education appointed
Field for the position
this summer. He will
replace Paul Suminski,
who recently accepted a
position as the new principal
of Lincoln Middle
School in Mount Prospect.
“Mr. Field comes to
District 67 and Deer Path
Middle School with wellrounded
experiences in education,
and from those who
know him both personally
and professionally, we are
very fortunate to have him
join our staff,” DeVore said
in a press release issued by
District 67 in late August.
Field has an extensive
background in education,
having worked at IC Catholic
Prep in Elmhurst, Ill., for
seven years, the first three
as a social studies teacher
and coach and the last four
as social studies department
chair; Loyola Academy in
Wilmette for three years,
where he taught social studies
classes and worked as
an instructional technology
leader, helping teachers
learn how to use and
benefit from technology in
the classroom; and Glenbrook
High School District
225 in Glenview and Northbrook,
where he worked
mainly with administrators
and teachers as director of
instructional technology
and shaped how the district
implemented technology in
the classroom.
Field said that after
working in Glenbrook
High School District 225’s
administrative office, he
missed being in a school
building and engaging directly
with both students
and teachers. So, when he
was offered the assistant
principal position at Deer
Path Middle School-West,
he gladly accepted.
“I knew that being in a
building and connecting
with teachers and students
was one of the reasons why
I got into education in the
first place,” Field said.
Wood for good
LFHS seniors craft
boards to fund
college education
Alan P. Henry
Freelance Reporter
Walt Disney was once
asked what it takes to
kickstart a career as a successful
entrepreneur. His
answer: “The way to get
started is to quit talking
and begin doing.”
Lake Forest High
School seniors Jack Armstrong
and Matthew Barrett,
friends since second
grade, began channeling
that advice three years
ago, when they took over
operation of the school’s
football and basketball
concessions stands.
This summer, the pair
of 17-year-old budding
entrepreneurs kicked it
up another notch, creating
Boards for Education.
Building on skills they
learned in wood shop class
in ninth grade, the pair
makes high-end, affordable
wood cutting boards,
butcher blocks and trays.
“We’ve always loved
woodworking,” Armstrong
said. “People always like
cutting boards. Everyone
has them in their home. We
realized we could make a
business out of this.”
The boards, which can
be either end grain or
edge grain, are crafted
from varying combinations
of walnut, cherry,
oak, maple, paducah from
Africa, purple heart from
South America, and Honduran
and African mahogany.
Much of their
wood is purchased from
Owl Hardwood Lumber in
Des Plaines. Products are
priced between $20 and
$165. Similar high-quality
Jack Armstrong (left) and Matthew Barrett, seniors at
Lake Forest High School, sell wood cutting boards to
help fund their college education. Alan P. Henry/22nd
Century Media
boards cost substantially
more in stores.
To date, they have netted
a profit of about $2,500,
selling the boards at fairs
and farmers markets.
From Sept. 4-5, they will
be selling new designs
at the Lake Forest-Lake
Bluff Artisan Guild Fall
Fair in downtown Lake
Forest.
Each plans to use those
profits to help fund their
college education.
“Our entire lives, our
parents have instilled in us
the value of hard work,”
said Barrett, who serves
on the executive committee
for the National Honor
Society, helps coordinate
volunteer opportunities
for students and is in the
squash club.
In college, he hopes to
study construction management
or mechanical
engineering. His college
choices are currently Wisconsin-Madison,
Washington
University, Vanderbilt
and Northwestern.
Like Barrett, Armstrong
has a strong work ethic.
“I am working for what
I have. I am entitled to absolutely
nothing,” he said.
Armstrong is casting a
college eye eastward toward
College of William
and Mary, College of the
Holy Cross and George
Washington University.
He is involved with Young
Idea, the school art and
literary magazine, Model
United Nations, freshman
mentoring and the squash
club. He is incoming captain
of the varsity tennis
team, on which he has
played for four years, and
he plays in USTA tournaments
as well. He is also a
volunteer for Cong. Robert
Dold.
Both Barrett and Armstrong
are writing their
college essays on their
experiences operating
Boards of Education.
“I’ve learned it’s not
about the money I’ve
made,” Armstrong said.
“It’s about the stories I’ve
shared with people, the
connections I’ve made and
the relationships I have
formed.”
For more information
on Boards for Education,
contact boardcrafters@
gmail.com, or call (847)
345-3424 or (847) 910-
9935. Their Facebook
page is www.facebook.
com/boardsforeducation/.