NL_060718

26 | June 7, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot LIFE &ARTS
newlenoxpatriot.com
Five New Lenox schools earn Earth Flags
Forty-eight Will
County schools earn
designation
Submitted by Will County
Executive Larry Walsh’s
office
Students from eight
schools celebrated the
planet and their roles in
protecting it at the annual
Earth Flag Awards at Rialto
Square Theater.
It is the 20th year that the
Land Use Department has
done presentations at Will
County schools.
The awards are sponsored
by the Will County Land
Use Department’s Resource
Recovery and Energy Division.
This year 48 schools
earned the designation.
Students were welcomed
by Nick Palmer, chief of
staff for Will County Executive
Larry Walsh, who
congratulated the students
for their efforts, calling
them “the leaders of tomorrow.”
“We want to continue to
collaborate with our schools
and continue to learn from
one another,” Palmer said.
“We want to keep recycling
relevant and think of new
ways to reduce our overall
waste footprint in order to
care for our planet.”
Joan O’Keefe, the county’s
Environmental Educator,
and colleague Tim Anderson
presented the awards
earlier this month. To qualify,
a school must complete
four of 13 qualified Earth
Tasks, two of which must be
recycling at least two materials,
and inviting O’Keefe
to speak with one grade
level or club.
“Whether it be an assembly
or visiting schools
room by room, I encourage
students to keep recycling –
and more importantly start
reducing waste,” O’Keefe
said. “Students are encouraged
to stop wasting at
home and at school and to
look at how they contribute
to filling up our landfills.
“If schools want more
graphic real-life experiences,
lunch time waste
audits can be performed
with a student group. Students
help sort lunch waste
and observe what kind of
wastes are prevalent at their
schools. If possible, after
the audit is complete all
students come back to the
lunch room to see just what
is going into those garbage
receptacles. Suggestions are
gathered from the student
body on how they can make
a difference. Some schools
opt to do school yard composting
and classroom
vermicomposting - with
worms. Students observe
worm anatomy and witness
the decomposition of organic
wastes.”
She said some schools do
art fairs where all projects
are designed using found
objects and trash. Schools
also have a choice to go
above and beyond the county’s
benchmarks. For example,
Laraway School put on
an after-school Earth Day
event for students and their
families in April. Attendees
learned about planting gardens
and had fun running a
recycling relay and coloring
monarch butterfly cutouts.
The eight schools which
attended were: Carl Sandburg
School in Joliet; Elwood
School in Elwood; Richland
School in Crest Hill; Minooka
Intermediate School
in Minooka; Holy Family
School in Shorewood; Hufford
Jr. High School in Joliet;
Kenneth L. Hermansen
School in Romeoville; and
Taft Elementary in Joliet.
Peotone Junior High
placed first in the TREX paper
bag challenge, collecting
1,674 pounds. Taking
second place was Frankfort
Square School in Frankfort.
Third place went to Elwood
School. Collectively, all
participating schools collected
5,120 pounds of plastic.
TREX uses the bags in
its outdoor furniture.
Schools in New Lenox
which earned Earth Flags this
year were Oster-Oakview,
Lincoln-Way Central, Caroline
Bentley, Haines School
and Spencer Crossing.
Other schools in the Will
County area which earned
Earth Flags this year were:
St. Dennis in Lockport;
Montessori School in Joliet;
Ludwig Elementary in
Lockport; Arbury Hills in
Mokena; Walker Intermediate
in Tinley Park; Frankfort
Square in Frankfort; Plainfield
East High in Plainfield;
Reed School in Homer
Glen; Robert C. Hill in Romeoville;
William B. Orenic
in Plainfield; Anna Mc-
Donald in Manhattan; John
R. Tibbott in Bolingbrook;
Victor J. Andrew High in
Tinley Park; Irene King in
Romeoville; Arlene Welch
in Naperville; Peotone Junior
High in Peotone; Reed
Custer Middle in Braidwood;
A. Vito Martinez in
Romeoville; KLA School in
Plainfield; Walsh Elementary
in Lockport; Central
School in Plainfield; Marycrest
Early Childhood in
Joliet; Freedom Elementary
in Plainfield; Kensington
Pre-School in Naperville;
Rockdale Elementary in
Rockdale; and Laraway Elementary
in Joliet.
“In all, we are so proud
of all our schools for giving
our natural environment a
special lesson in the classroom,”
O’Keefe said.
Lincoln-Way Theatre Guild in
search of young performers
Group to perform ‘Alice in
Wonderland’ in late June
Staff Report
The Lincoln-Way Theatre Guild
is proud to announce its 2018 Young
Actors’ Production of “Alice in Wonderland.”
This exciting production will feature
Young Actors exiting fourththrough
12th- grade graduates.
An optional workshops at the New
Lenox Public Library will take place
from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, June 10.
Performance rehearsal will begin
Monday, June 11 through
Thursday, June 21. The rehearsals are
Monday through Thursday from 4-8
p.m.
Tech week will take place Sunday,
June 23 through Thursday, June 28.
Scheduled times are to be determined.
Sunday, June 23rd through Thursday,
June 28th
The show dates Friday, June 29th at
7:00 p.m. and Saturday, June 30 at 1
p.m. and 7 p.m.
Fees are $195 per young actor or
actress, $165 for the second, and $125
for any additional performer from the
same household.
Registration is available for the few
remaining spots via email at lwthe
atreguild@gmail.com.
For more information please see
our website www.lincoln-waytheatre
guild.com or the guild’s Facebook
page at Lincoln-Way Theatre Guild.
Additional questions can be directed
to the aforementioned email or by
phone at (815) 671-1616.
Fine-ing a way to fill the food pantry
New Lenox Library’s Food for Fines initiative a success
for the New Lenox Township’s food pantry
Pictured are hundreds of food items collected as part of the Food for
Fines program by the New Lenox Public Library. Library cardholders
who brought in non-perishable food items had up to $15 in late fees
waived. Photo Submitted
CARROLL
From Page 21
from heatstroke totaled 42
in 2017.
The weather for June and
beyond
The forecast from the
National Centers for Environmental
Prediction for
May worked out well with
above-normal temperature
and above-normal precipitation,
as predicted. The
Centers’ forecast for June is
for above-normal temperatures
and normal precipitation.
The prediction for July
and August includes normal
temperature and abovenormal
precipitation.
Mark T. Carroll is the president
of CALM Weather LLC, a meteorological
consulting service
based in Oak Forest. For more
information, visit calmwx.com.