OP_030917

8 | March 9, 2017 | The orland park prairie news
opprairie.com
The Village of Orland Park’s Spring
Senior Coffee to take place March 16
Submitted by Village of
Orland Park
Orland Park senior residents
are invited to attend
Mayor Dan McLaughlin’s
Spring Senior Coffee, which
is slated to take place from
9-11 a.m. Thursday, March
16, at the Orland Park Civic
Center, 14750 Ravinia Ave.
This year’s luncheon is to
feature presentations on gardening
and on the Village’s
newest fitness facility, the
Orland Park Health & Fitness
Center.
University of Illinois
horticulturist and Master
Gardener Margaret Burns-
Westmeyer is scheduled to
present on waking up a garden,
and will answer any
gardening questions or concerns.
Residents also are
slated to hear from David
Brainerd, center director
of Orland Park Health &
Fitness Center. Brainerd
will highlight the amenities
offered at Orland Park’s
newest fitness facility and
raffle several free passes.
Seating is limited, and
reservations will be taken
on a first-come basis. Residents
may reserve their seat
by calling (708) 403-6133
through March 14.
For more information,
contact the Village
Clerk’s Office at (708) 403-
6150.
Faith United Methodist to offer support with Veterans Voices event
Submitted by Veterans
Voices
Faith United Methodist
Church is to host a Veterans
Voices event open to all veterans
and families.
The event is to take place
from noon-4 p.m. Saturday,
March 18, at the church’s
Fellowship Hall, 15101 S.
80th Ave. in ORland Park
For more information,
people can email faith@
faithumcop.org.
Registration is recommended,
and people can register by
calling (708) 444-8560, but
walk-ins also are welcome.
The event is sponsored
by Veteran Voices, a military
veterans group, and
Faith UMC. Its mission is to
bring together area veterans,
families and veteran support
groups, and to provide information
about available veteran’s
benefits and services.
The program schedule is
as follows.
• Noon-1 p.m. Lunch
served to all.
• 1-1:15 p.m. Welcome,
opening prayer, color guard,
national anthem.
• 1:15-2:20 p.m. Guest
Speaker – Sandra Davis
(Topic: Agent Orange) Sandra
is the chairperson for the
Agent Orange Committee
(Vietnow Group).
• 2-2:45 p.m. Guest
Speaker, Michael Le Buhn
(Topic: PTSD) Michael is
a U.S. Army veteran who
served in Iraq
• 2:45-4 p.m. Veterans and
families are welcome to visit
and interact with the many
support groups attending.
Those involved with a
veteran support group that
would like to attend and display
its information, contact
Darryl Wertheim at (708)
923-0021 or darryl.wert
heim@gmail.com
A free will offering will
be taken to help offset the
event expenses and provide
for veteran charitable contributions.
Trustee Dan Calandriello
brings St. Joseph’s Table
back to Orland Park
Attendees asked to
bring nonperishables
for Orland Township
Food Pantry
Submitted by Trustee Dan
Calandriello
A long-standing Italian-
American tradition, St. Joseph’s
Table is to be held
Sunday, March 19, when
Orland Park Village Trustee
Dan Calandriello brings the
event back to the Orland
Park Civic Center, 14750 S.
Ravinia Ave.
The event begins at 3:30
p.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m.
All are welcome to attend.
One of the most beloved
saints among Italian-Americans,
St. Joseph is the patron
saint of workers and the
protector of the family. He
is honored with a feast day
March 19.
The St. Joseph Table tradition
dates back to the Middle
Ages, when there was
a severe drought in Sicily.
The people prayed to their
patron, St. Joseph, asking
for relief from the famine.
When the rains returned, the
people used their crops to
give thanks and share their
good fortune.
In the tradition of the St.
Joseph’s Table, attendees will
be asked to bring nonperishable
food items. The items
will be donated to the Orland
Township Food Pantry.
The table is scheduled to
start with a musical homage
to St. Joseph, performed by
members of the Sandburg
band. There will be pasta, salad,
bread and desserts served
with pop, water and coffee.
There are no tickets for
this event. Those interested
can simply come with a nonperishable
food item.
For more information, call
(708) 699-5432.
award
From Page 3
ments.
“The climate here, the
culture of the building,he’s
a big part of why it’s such
a positive place to be,”
Hayden said. “He has a
great relationship with the
kids. I mean, we have 700
kids here, and he knows
probably all of them by
name. When he’s walking
by them in the hallway,
they’ll all stop to say ‘hello’
or fist bump [him] or something.”
Hayden said Horn has a
way of making everyone —
staff, students and parents
— feel right at home, and
his kindness, thoughtfulness
and compassion are wellreceived.
If one needs an
example, Parents for Education
President Christy Serdar
said to look for alumni that
attend events.
“I think it says it all when
a lot of freshman at Sandburg
[High School] want to
come back there,” Serdar
said. “They come back to
watch the kids play basketball
and help the coaches
and say ‘hi’ to teachers and
principals,” Serdar said.
“I don’t remember feeling
that way when I was growing
up.”
‘What I love the best’
Surrounded by a family of
educators, Brian Horn knew
immediately he wanted
to take on that career. His
younger sister Bridget Welsh
is also a teacher, and their
father, Chuck, was a teacher
and principal at Evergreen
Park High School.
“Education was always
important to me and to my
family,” he said. “We were
always around a positive
school community, and I
had an awesome experience
with school myself and
knew that was a place I felt
comfortable and wanted to
make an impact on the lives
of kids.”
At first, he planned on being
a high school English
teacher, but after student
teaching at Grissom Middle
School in Tinley Park, he became
fond of working with
preteens.
“When I taught at the middle
school level, I realized
how much I loved this age
group,” he said.
From there, he went on to
teach English/language arts
at Central Middle School
in Evergreen Park, where
he stayed for 11 years before
heading to Century
for an assistant principal
position.
While many parents have
entrusted Horn to teach and
work with their children
for the past 17 years, he,
himself, has never stopped
learning.
“I just turned 40 years
old last month, and since I
started school there hasn’t
been a time in my life where
I haven’t been [learning],”
he said.
After graduating from the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
in 1999,
with a bachelor’s degree in
English education, he went
on to get two master’s degrees
— one for English education
at Governors State
University in 2000 and the
other for educational leadership
and administration
from Saint Xavier University
in 2004. By 2011, he
became certified by the National
Board of Professional
Teaching Standards.
“I just finished my doctorate
[at National Louis
University] in December,”
Horn said. “And this summer,
I’m continuing my
coursework. I’ll be attending
coursework at Harvard
this July in a continuing
education program for experienced
principals.”
Horn points to his enthusiasm
and excitement as to
what drives him to study,
and he said he hopes to set
an example for not only his
students but his colleagues,
as well.
“It’s always about continuing
to grow and continuing
to learn, continuing
to always be curious and
find and seek new information,
and just to collaborate,”
Horn said. “I think
one of the best things about
going to school is the ability
to learn from other people,
too, from their experiences
and all of those kinds of
things. That’s what I love
the best — being the student,
being the teacher, being
the principal.”