OP_042519

OPPrairie.com sound off
the orland park prairie | April 25, 2019 | 13
Social snapshot
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From opprairie.com as of Friday, April 19
From the Editor
Tough choices, new voices
1. Eagles volleyball team retires number
of DG North player
2. 10 Questions with Sarah Gonsch,
Sandburg softball
3. Business Briefs: Texas de Brazil opens
Orland Square location
4. Area Sports Roundup: Orland Park’s
Ruzevich named All-American
5. Two Orland Park players lead Fury to
state title
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Amanda Jeleniewski, of Orland Park,
posted April 16, in response to a story from
The Orland Park Prairie about a fundraiser
at Dunkin’ on 143rd Street for Orland Jr.
High School, “That Dunkin’ location is so
great! [Why?] Definitely the service. Just
a friendly group of employees. And they
move through those drive-thru lines! I think
they moved 8 cars in under 5 minutes the
other day, during their busy time. All of that
outweighs the occasional ‘we’re out of the
sprinkled donuts.’ [wink]”
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“Senior Frankie Saban earned All-MVC
honors for the 2nd consecutive year. Her
76.54 stroke average this season ranks
14th among Bradley season marks &
her 77.83 career average is sixth all-time
at Bradley, while her 105 career rounds
played rank ninth all-time.”
@BradleyWGolf — Bradley Women’s
Golf, on April 16
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BILL JONES
bill@opprairie.com
Last Thursday, I had
a tough choice.
Orland School
District 135 notified
us about the return of
Meadow Ridge School’s
Entrepreneur Expo: Shark
Tank Style. But Sean
Airola also let us know
about Sandburg’s inaugural
Mental-Emotional-
Social Health Fair, around
the same time, same day
at the high school.
I was torn. I didn’t see a
way to do both.
The Meadow Ridge
expo is an all-time favorite
for me. It’s a wonderful
Letters to the Editor
Transform your toxic turf
As I wandered into the mecca of suburbia,
also known as Costco, I was met by
pallets upon pallets of synthetic fertilizers.
I was a bit disturbed. No suburban lawn
needs a 10-gallon bucket of chemicals.
I take no issue with homeowners devoting
themselves to a well-curated lawn. I do
take issue with the fact that many homeowners
have fallen guise to the advertisements
of Big Ag.
So, fellow suburbanites, put the buckets
of fertilizer back; there is a better way.
The humble turf grass is, in fact, a
mighty plant. What it lacks in exotic beauty
it makes up for by design. Beneath the
green blades, however, is where the real
action happens. The soil is teeming with
tons — literal tons — of microfauna that
bring grass to life.
Those microfauna are the best “fertilizers”
around. They break up any organic
matter that falls atop the grass and incorporate
it back into the soil so that the roots can
access it. But these tiny little machines are
hindered by synthetic fertilizers. The solutions
to these problems, though, are all free.
1. Cut your grass higher and leave the
grass clippings. Simply mulching as you
way to get inside of the
minds of children — what
they see as problems,
and what their creativity
conjures as solutions. It
makes for great photos.
The presentations are fun.
The discussions some of
the most enjoyable interviews
you’ll ever do.
But we at the paper have
already taken a keen interest
in what Airola has been
doing to upgrade physical
education with technology,
and I was curious to know
what he had in store for the
health side of things. It was
a first-time event, tackling
a topic too often left undiscussed.
And so I sided with
trying something new.
I asked Laurie Fanelli
to cover the Entrepreneur
Expo. She got some great
photos, fun pitches and
our cover story for this
week.
But please don’t sleep
on the health fair story on
Page 8. It’s important.
At the fair itself, a nice
woman had the thankless
task of trying to get more
students to volunteer.
Student groups were more
than happy to talk to peers
interested in joining their
ranks. And a few area
organizations came out to
show high-schoolers what
they have to offer. And
a prize wheel from The
Bridge Teen Center stole
the show. (A prize wheel
always steals the show.)
Inside of the auditorium
at the Performing Arts
Center, Karissa Kouchis
first addressed the whole
of the sophomore health
students in attendance,
then worked with them in
smaller numbers during
mow is a natural fertilizer. The grass will
break down and be used by the microfauna
to return nutrients back into the soil. As
a bonus, the clippings can help shade the
grass from the harsh summer sun it does
not like. A higher cut also allows the grass
to retain its natural moisture. So, less time
cutting the grass and less time spent watering.
2. And, if the grass starts to turn brown,
do not rush to water it — let it be. For this is
the miracle of grass. It knows when to take
a break and when to wake up. Rest easy
that if your lawn goes brown, it is not a
reflection of poor home ownership; rather,
it is a reflection of a responsible, sustainable
and healthy household. Save money
on your water bill; let nature do her work.
3. As autumn rolls around, let your
leaves be to sit under the winter’s snow and
melt away into the lawn. Come spring, no
fertilizer will be needed.
This summer, make a pledge to keep
your lawn free of fertilizers, excessive watering
and too much work. Let your “lowmaintenance”
lawn be truly low-maintenance.
Allison Carmody
Orland Park resident
breakout sessions. The
message there was simple:
Know how to make your
emotions work for you in
achieving your goals. The
students seemed to have
fun with it.
But underlying all of it
was something more. The
students were out of the
classrooms, interacting
not only with the teachers,
a graduate and the other
adults in the room but also
with each other. And the
education had a lot to do
with socialization. It was
about getting them out
of a comfort zone, Airola
said, and it seemed to be
working quite well.
I was happy to play a
small part in the conversation
by covering it, and I
hope it’s a conversation
that doesn’t stop anytime
soon.
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