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4 | July 5, 2018 | The Lockport Legend NEWS lockportlegend.com Historic John Lane Days to return with new lineup of activities Jacquelyn Schlabach Assistant Editor Lockport’s history dates back centuries, with many key figures making their marks not only on the city, but on the world. John Lane, who settled in Lockport, invented the firstever steel plow in 1833. Today, his contribution to the farming industry is still recognized at the third annual Historic John Lane Days. The Historic John Lane Farm, where the steel plow was invented, serves as an educational resource that will gather the community July 14 and 15 to help raise money for a renovation of the barn that stands on the property. “The reason we started having [John Lane Days] was to introduce to the public the farm, and the reason behind doing it was to promote the building that we have that has repurposed wood in it from the original John Lane building, and we want to save this barn and turn it into a community center and a museum for John Lane’s items and a meeting area for the public,” said Sylvia Zielke-Kuffel, president of the board of trustees at the farm. The barn has hand-cut and hewn boards from Lane’s original barn that were built into its structure, but has been in need of a new roof that is estimated to cost $250,000. Money raised from John Lane Days is to go directly toward the roof, as well as the overall restoration of the barn that was built in the 1920s, in hopes of making it into a museum and community center that shares the history of farming. “And of course, for us, saving it for that means to not only save it, but to make it useful so that everybody has an opportunity to come there and to see the items that John Lane used, as well as to learn about why he is so important,” Zielke-Kuffel said. Students from The Montessori School of Lemont have been the first to participate in a farming project held at the site, where they learn hands-on about organic farming. “Most of the kids we talk to [say], ‘Oh my folks just go to the store and get it,’ I’m like yeah, but it has to come from somewhere,” Zielke-Kuffel said. “It has to come from a farmer first, then it goes to processors then it goes to the store. So we’re trying to retrain that thinking so they understand and have a better appreciation for it.” As part of the restoration, Zielke-Kuffel said they plan to have a section for children where they can learn, as well. During Historic John Lane Days, which runs from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., families are welcome to come to the farm and experience a whole new line-up of activities as compared to the last two years. “This will be fun,” Zielke- Kuffel said. “It’s designed for families this year.” Children can enjoy a firstever train ride, experience a pedal car, play ring toss, participate in a bean bag competition, play Bozo buckets and more. This year, there are to be 30 vendors that are almost all brand new, according to Zielke-Kuffel. There is to be crafters, wood carvers, people who make handmade laptop cases, design hubcaps and others. “All the new vendors we’re going to have, I just think that’s going to be exciting because they’re going to bring so much new ideas, new things into the whole picture that it’s going to be fun for everybody to want to shop,” she said. Attendees can bring their lawn chairs and blankets for the first-ever fundraising concert on July 14 at 5 p.m. Musicians Marilea Zajec (left) and Neal Peck of the South Suburban Dulcimer and Folk Music Society chat with Kevin J. Wood, who was portraying Abraham Lincoln at last year’s Historic John Lane Days. 22nd Century Media File Photo Country artist Elliot Sedgiwck is donating his time and efforts to partner with the Historic John Lane Farm to raise money to fix the barn. Tickets are $5 a person and can be purchased by calling (815) 342-2656. Returning for another year is Kevin J. Woods who is to portray Abraham Lincoln and have presentations about the I&M Canal and John Lane. Admission is free of charge, however, donations are appreciated. Parking on the grounds is $1 per car and additional parking will be on Chancellor Drive and Regents Road. The farm is located at 16217 S. Gougar Road in Lockport. Homer Community Consolidated School D33C Board of Education Three assistant superintendents appointed at meeting Jessie Molloy Freelance Reporter The Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C Board of Education continued with its appointments of new administrators at its June 26 meeting, following the appointment of Craig Schoppe to replace outgoing Superintendent Kara Coglianese. Joining Schoppe for the first time in the administrative office effective Sunday, July 1, will be three new assistant superintendents: Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Michael Szopinski, Assistant Superintendent for Business Aleksas Kirkus and Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Michael Portwood. Szopinski, like Schoppe, has a history with District 33C, having served as the principal at Young School for the past eight years. While at Young, Szopinski introduced curricular initiatives, including mixed ability differentiation and circular feedback for teachers. Szopinski received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his master’s from Loyola University Chicago. Szopinski is replacing outgoing Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Kathleen Robinson. Kirkus comes to District 33C from LaGrange School District 102, where he spent 21 years in the technology department, working his way up to director of technology and business operations. Kirkus, of Lemont, is moving closer to home by coming to 33C. He received his MBA and his Chief School Business Official licensure from Concordia University Chicago. Kirkus will take the place of Christi Tyler. Portwood has been with District 33C since 2015, when he was hired to create the previously nonexistent human resources department. His previous title was director of HR. Portwood earned his bachelor’s degree at Illinois Wesleyan University and received his master’s from National Louis University. Speaking on behalf of the Illinois Federation of Teachers Local 604, Tammie Ebel said the teachers are “excited to be working with four new upper administrators this year.” “We’re looking forward to getting started and to getting out of the hole we have fallen into recently,” Ebel said. Ebel commented that the teachers felt the previous administration had failed in effectively communicating with the teachers and building staff. “We had no communication,” she said. “Which makes it very hard to make choices as teachers. We’re looking forward to getting back on track.” Ross School update During the meeting, the board heard a presentation on the progress of preserving Ross School, the historic one-room, wooden schoolhouse which sits on the district’s property. Back in the fall, a group of parents, staff and community volunteers restored the roof on the building with help from donations from local businesses to save it from the harsh winter weather, but much remains to be done. Members of the Homer Glen Area Chamber of Commerce recently met to discuss creating a special subcommittee in conjunc- Please see d33c, 6
lockportlegend.com NEWS the Lockport Legend | July 5, 2018 | 5 LTHS teacher sails aboard exploration ship in Pacific Ocean Brown a guest on Nautilus vessel for fiveday expedition Jacquelyn Schlabach Assistant Editor It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Lockport Township High School teacher Jeff Brown was selected as one of four teachers from across the country to sail aboard Exploration Vessel Nautilus to sail June 6-10 for five days at the launch of its six-month expedition in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Last November, Brown was awarded CITGO STEM Teacher of the Year, which gave him the opportunity to be a CITGO Nautilus Ambassador and join the exploration. The ambassadors were selected for their “leadership in education and commitment to bringing unique science, technology, engineering and mathematics educational experience to their learners,” according to the Vessel Nautilus website. CITGO is a sponsor of Ocean Exploration Trust, which has programs that focus on scientific exploration, such as the one Brown was on last month. The ambassadors get to experience life aboard a research vessel and see firsthand how “deep sea exploration and research is conducted.” “When I was on, the main part of that particular crew was to do some floor mapping.” Brown said. “Sometimes, they put the [remote operated vehicle] robots underwater — they didn’t in this one. So really, we spent some time seeing and talking with the scientist that did the mapping and seeing the mapping system and how it works, and then we spent some time with the ROV engineer and talking about the ROVs that they use to go down and do the exploring, and taking samples and things like that.” Every day, Brown woke up around 6:30 a.m. to get ready for the new adventure that awaited, and ended his long days around 10 p.m. He slept in a 10x10-foot cabin with two sets of bunk beds, sharing it with one of the teachers. When he got up, breakfast was waiting for him, made by chefs who were on board. “The food was phenomenal,” Brown said. “They cook up great meals and plenty of it. That was one thing, you certainly didn’t go hungry on there. If you did, it was your own fault.” He said at almost every meal, there were about three different types of meat, various potatoes and vegetables, as well as a mix of salads and fresh fruit. The first day he was aboard the ship, they were in port, preparing to depart Los Angeles. He got a tour of the ship and learned about all the safety policies and procedures. The following day prepared him and the approximately 25 other crew members for the event of an emergency. “The first day we were [in the ocean], they do kind of like we do in school earlier in the year, you have like fire drills and things like that, so we did have like an abandoned ship drill, and obviously we didn’t actually inflate the life boats and get in them, but [it was] right up to that point,” Brown said. “I mean, you grabbed your life preserver, you put it on, you went up to the deck up there with the crew, and they were all set to pop open the lifeboats and stuff. I thought that was kind of interesting.” After learning the basics of the ship, it was time to explore. The four teachers had the opportunity to job shadow different tasks that were being completed by the scientists and crew members on board. “We spent some time the one day with the head of navigation on the ship,” Brown said. “So, we didn’t have any one specific thing; we kind of did a little bit of everything and mostly kind of job shadowed, you could say, to learn about all the different technology and science that went on on the ship.” Brown, a college and career applications teacher, is also a sponsor of the LTHS Robotics Team. So, it was Lockport Township High School teacher Jeff Brown joined three other teachers from across the country to sail aboard Exploration Vessel Nautilus June 6-10 at the launch of its six-month expedition in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Photo submitted no surprise that his favorite part of the experience was seeing the ROVs. “I think the biggest thing for me was the ROVs, the underwater robots that they have because, again, being the robotics sponsor, that was very interesting to me, but it’s completely different when you go underwater versus our robots that are always [on] land,” Brown said. The ROVS go 400 meters below the surface to gather information on the ocean floor. “I also like the other technology that they had,” he said. “Their sonar mapping and how they do it, and how they send out the beams to map what’s going on on the ocean floor, so most of the technology and the ROVs [was the most interesting].” On June 10, the ship went to San Francisco to drop off the four teachers and other crew members as they rotated in new people. Throughout the six-month journey, rotations are made with people coming and going on the ship. Because Nautilus is an exploration vessel and not a research one, they travel through the ocean not knowing what it is they’ll find. “They don’t necessarily know for sure they’re going to run into something, it’s more, ‘What are we going to run into?’” Brown said. Nautilus is currently on its fourth year of exploration in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Sailing until November, it will travel through the regions of British Columbia, Canada, along the West Coast and the Hawaiian Islands, according to its website. “Personally, I’m just so thankful to CITGO, because obviously without them sponsoring and doing a CITGO Stem Teacher of the Year, I never would have had this opportunity, and also Ocean Exploration Trust, same thing,” Brown said. ”I mean the fact that they do this, and they allow teachers and whatever this opportunity, I think it’s phenomenal.” When school starts up again next month, Brown plans to bring back a lot of his personal experiences to share with his students. “I know for a fact even before I left, a lot of my students were really serious like, ‘We can’t wait to hear about it when you get back,’ so I think it’ll be very valuable for them,” he said. Ocean Exploration Trust has an education website where teachers can use various lessons in the classroom, and, according to Brown, he plans to use just that. “But I think, too, just talking about my experiences and the technology that was on the ship, you know we don’t have that in the classroom, but certainly just explaining it, and I’ve got plenty of pictures, and then trying to incorporate that into the different lessons that they have, and even just adding it into some of the lessons I have,” he said. As of press time, Nautilus was along the U.S. Cascadia Margin located offshore of Washington, Oregon and northern California. Its task was to explore for methane seeps and hydrate sites and to “characterize their associated ecosystems along the U.S. Cascadia Margin,” according to the website. Its next expedition is to survey three offshore Pacific seamounts in Canada.
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