8 | April 26, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger MOKENA mokenamessenger.com Discover the difference of catered senior living Tinley Court Redefining the Independent Senior Living Experience Wellness Center NOW OPEN Need a Doctor? See a DOCTOR! EVERYDAY • 7AM – 11PM • Board-Certified Physicians • Easy Access/Parking • Prompt Attention MOST INSURANCE PLANS ACCEPTED LA PORTE RD TACO BELL COLORADO AVE 45 N ST. FRANCIS RD Featuring: • Podiatry Plus – Dr. Martin • Primary Care Doctor – Dr. John Curtin • All Stat X-Ray Technicians • Central Clinic Lab – Blood Work • Phoenix Home Health Therapy Group • Finer Hearing – Dr. Lisa Gumina An Independent Living Community with Brighter Days for Seniors • 3 chef prepared meals served daily • Full daily activity program, entertainment & trips • Weekly housekeeping • All utilities included • Library, chapel, coffee shop and beauty/barber shop on premises • Private Formal Dining Room available • Home health care services available on premises provided by AISHLING Companion Home Health Care • Walking distance to Tinley shops & restaurants • Veterans Financial Assistance Available FRANKFORT • 815-464-2010 LaGrange Road @ St. Francis Road 2017 WINNER 2018 WINNER EVERYTHING you need under one roof providing excellent care to our community. 16301 S Brementowne Rd. 708.532.7800 Tinley Park, IL 60477 www.tinleycourt.com Member of Tinley Park Chamber of Commerce Since 1994
mokenamessenger.com news the Mokena Messenger | April 26, 2018 | 9 Mokena D159 Board of Education Storm sewers, communications on summer to-do list Rochelle McAuliffe Freelance Reporter The Mokena School District 159 Board of Education convened April 18 to meet with McKinstry engineers and consultants to discuss the upcoming summer projects necessary throughout the district. McKinstry Engineers joined the board with a presentation including numbers from historical data of their previous projects. The initial estimates were conservative, but McKinstry reminded the board that it’s about the project and not the price. McKinstry’s presentation was prioritized from highest to lowest by what they their registered civil engineer have noticed over the last few weeks. Their goals for the projects with the district are to have the projects completed on time and within budget, and to save district dollars with energy and utility savings, grants, and rebates. The highest priority project is the storm sewers in the junior high parking lot. According to McKinstry consultants, the top of the concrete is failing, and there’s lots of debris Round it up A brief recap of other items discussed at the April 18 meeting • No. 2 lead pencils can now be used on a model of Google Chromebooks, helping to eliminate equipment and usage costs associated with the necessity of a stylus. The Chromebook is being piloted in the elementary art program. • The board approved the five-year capital lease from Midwest Transit System of three to four busses at $10,092 per year. • MIS hosted Google Discovery AR, an and gravel in the drain that’s being distributed throughout the drainage system. When the civil engineer investigated, he found that the drain that goes to the sewer is collapsed and breaking apart, making it gather in the drain. Engineers are nervous that within the year there could be a total failure or a sinkhole. Just resealing and painting the parking lot probably isn’t in D159’s future; the soil isn’t stable. Before the board’s augmented reality simulator in which students get to experience a distorted reality through a cell phone. • MES Principal Anna Kirchner practiced an active school shooter drill with Mokena Police and staff on April 18. This drill not only included the “hide or fight” tactic to be used inside the building, but also included an evacuation procedure with three locations for staff and students to gather in an emergency. The drill is scheduled to be repeated with students May 2. • After commending his students for a wonderful production of “Beauty and the Beast Junior,” Principal next meeting, McKinstry will bring an engineering team out to see what it would cost to replace the parking lot. Selected security outlined included an upgraded phone and intercom system, door and window labels, and the installation of access control and security cameras. An additional piping revamp for Mokena Elementary School was approved during the meeting, although it was not previously assessed Mike Rolinitis commended Lincoln-Way Central High School for being one of only 135 schools nationwide to be awarded the Support Music Merit Award through The NA<strong>MM</strong> Foundation. • Laurie Kornmuller, president of the Mokena Educational Foundation, announced that the recipients of the five, $500 scholarships to Washington, D.C., were: Michael Collins, Colin Bush, Hunter Stumpf, Will Abell and Cienna Gehrke. The recipients of the Lincoln-Way Central college scholarships were: Jessica Bowers, Dominic Terrones, Julia Signorelli and Julia Roessler. by McKinstry. SES staff advocated for this repair, as they had said this was a persistent issue, with a leak happening last year in the South Gym. Additional projects that were outlined but weren’t approved at this point pending received bids included controls and HVAC at MES, a domestic water heater upgrade at Mokena Intermediate School, fiber optic retrenching between MIS and MES, and a bad condensing unit with failed compressors at MIS. Debate over instructional coach When motioning to approve the posting of a job description for an instructional coach, a debate ensued. On one side, a balanced budget; on the other, the value of an education. Board member Eric Bush said he fears unsustainable spending associated with this type of personnel. “I don’t want this District to turn into [Chicago Public School], the State of Illinois, City of Chicago, Cook County, all of these governments that are just… I don’t want this district to go there,” Bush said. “I have no doubt that these positions will help our teachers, help our students… I just don’t know if we can afford them going forward because we put them in the budget. How do you take them out three years down the road when you can’t afford them?” Bush asked. Fellow board member Jim Andresen asked the opposition to go back to the District’s mission statement, saying, “We’re not a bank.” He suggested a trial of two years to see if “we can make our teachers better, our scores higher and our students truly better.” Jaime Staley said that the district is finally looking at surrounding schools and seeing what they’re doing to achieve high test scores, and part of that is hiring instructional coaches. Staley said that, in her opinion, if that money is there to spend, it’s worth spending if it will enrich the children. When motioned to approve again, the vote was unanimous. Finance Committee report Board policy 4:20 reads that the District average fund balance fall between 33 and 65 percent of the annual expenditures, while it currently sits at 69 percent. The Operations and Management Fund balance is significantly higher than board policy allows, but would be balanced with a spending plan together of approximately $700,000 to align the fund to balance to the board policy. The $700,000 would be spent on the upcoming summer projects. Noonan recognizes third quarter honor roll students Submitted by Noonan Elementary Academy Noonan Elementary Academy would like to congratulate the following fifth- through eighth-grade students who made the third quarter honor roll. Gold Honor Roll is held by those students who received all A’s, 93 percent or higher, in every subject. Fifth-grade Gold Honor Roll students are: Gabriella Cox, Sydney DeProfio, EllaMarie Jensen, Cassidy Lloyd, Michael Noonan, and Hanna Winkleman. Sixth-grade Gold Honor Roll students are: Grace Andrews, Sophia Bader, Joseph Burchett, Morgan Ficht, Asha Garrett, Luke Hague, Artur Krutul, Shealagh Littleton, Angelina Mastro, Ashley Miller, Nolan Redican, Erin Thompson, and Cathleen Vong. Seventh-grade Gold Honor Roll students are: Charlie Armbruster, Cade Burton, Olivia Carter, Duncan DeProfio, Cormac Gill, Frank Lacny, Brighde Littleton, Ethan Villasenor, and Sophia Wilko. 8th grade Gold Honor Roll students are: Anne-Claire Austrums, Brendan Born, Bailey Griffis, Ishaa Jain, Christian Kush, Nicholas Leese, Abigail Manos, and Elizabeth Rusiniak. Silver Honor Roll is held by those students who received more A’s than B’s. Fifth-grade Silver Honor Roll students are: AJ Ackerson, Anna Barcik, Sophia Carter, Samuel Drong, Matthew Egan, Riley Fazio, Jackson Fowler, Jack Gordon, Molly Gordon, John Hague, Gavin Kenny, Michael Leese, Sophia Leverett, Jacob Manos, Isaiah Orlandi, Grace Vrdolyak and Alexander Winkleman. Sixth grade Silver Honor Roll students are: Joey Armbruster, Donald Carlson, Mickey Groos, Madison Hudek, Julie Huguelet, Mason Lehan, Sophia Mastro, Isabella Morey, Conor Ryan, Ann Simon, and Nicholas Valentini. Seventh grade Silver Honor Roll students are: Michael Carter, Gustavo Cook, Gianna Cox, Adam DeRubertis, Gabriel Dunn, Hannah Hansen, Mary Huguelet, Alexander Lynch, Emily Manos, Jack McCarty, Lily Sun, and Eddie Vrdolyak. Eighth-grade Silver Honor Roll students are: George Akkawi, Sydney Banks, Sydney Burton, Elizabeth Carroll, David DeRubertis, Gianna Diorio, Mia Ficht, Emily Kenny, Mary Mc- Guire, Luke McSweeney, Adam Miller, Sophia Morey, Michael Panarici, Kiera Sajewski, and Grace Whitman.
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