Bring in your spare change by Friday (tomorrow) to vote for the teachers you want to see in the dunk tank! Change will be collected thru Friday and the teacher with the most donations will spend the most time in the tank! All proceeds go towards purchasing shade structures for the new playground. After Party: after the kids have had their fun at the Bye Bye Blacktop party parents are invited to join teachers and parents at the Side Bar at 6619 Roosevelt Road at 9pm for continued celebrations.
PTO Meeting May 23, 2013
We hope you can join us for the May PTO meeting, which is this week on Thursday, May 23 at 6:30 in the Library/Media Center on the second floor. As always, free child care is provided. This meeting will assess the past year in order to prepare well for next school year.
We hope to see you there. If you are unable to attend and would like to discuss anything on the agenda, please contact Laura Crawford at lauracrawford47@gmail.com, Jodie Ackerman at jodiepto@yahoo.com, or any of the other PTO board members (click here for contact info).
Irving School PTO
Agenda for Monthly Meeting
May 23, 2013
6:30PM
Irving Media Center Library
- Welcome
- Transition of PTO board positions: Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer (5 minutes)
- Principal’s Report (30 minutes)
- Treasurer’s Report (10 minutes)
- Schoolyard Project update (5 minutes)
- Construction briefing
- Blacktop party: Friday, 5/24
- Committee Reports: (20 minutes)
- Event evaluation: Sleepover
- Event evaluation: Ethnic Parade
- Event evaluation: Staff Appreciation
- Event evaluation: Art Fest/Poetry Slam
- Event evaluation: Family Math Night
- End of Year party: Friday, 5/31
- Other committee reports
- Eagle Extras Update: (5 minutes)
- Summer Planning (10 minutes)
- Fun Run
- Suggestions for next year’s PTO budget development
- Reflections on past year with suggestions for improvement. (10 minutes)
- Approve minutes from 5/2/13
- All other business
Ragnar Team Shoe Drive
SPRING CLEANING
Donate your shoes to Soles for Souls this Wednesday, May 22 through Friday, May 24. Clean out your closets and donate to a great cause. Shoes can be dropped in a collection box in front of school. Laces can be tied together or shoes can be connected with rubber bands. Please see the flier for more information.
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Betsy Parkinson
2nd Grade Irving
http://parkinsonpage.blogspot.com/
Barrie Fest is coming soon!
Hello friends of Barrie Fest!
SEOPCO has already started the planning process for this year’s Barrie Fest, including the 10 year celebration of SEOPCO! As we’re planning the festivities for Saturday, September 14, we would like to hear from you:
- Do you know of a family-friendly band who would like to play at Barrie Fest? Send your suggestions to seopco@gmail.com
- Last year we had many vendors – if you have suggestions of vendors or other things you’d like to see at this year’s Barrie Fest let us know
- Other suggestions: activities, events, speakers, you name it! We want to hear from you
In addition, SEOPCO is creating a photo montage celebrating our neighborhood. Please send us your photos and videos of your favorite places, moments, activities and more in South East Oak Park or post them to our Facebook page. We will debut the video at Movie Night in September. See you all at Barrie Fest on Saturday, September 14!
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SEOPCO – South East Oak Park Community Organization
P.O. Box 1722
Oak Park, IL 60304-1722
www.seopco.org
seopco@gmail.com
SEOPCO ACTION ALERT: IDOT’s preferred options all call for widening the Eisenhower (Ike)
Dear Neighbors,
Please read the letter below from the Citizens for Appropriate Transportation. The Illinois Department of Transportation’s four alternatives for the I-290 involve widening it. We all have until next Monday, May 20th to communicate our opinions to IDOT.
The SEOPCO board intends to express to IDOT our opposition to their current build alternatives, and we plan to express our concerns to the Village Board during the public comment part of the agenda, also on May 20th.
Please take the time to do two things:
1. Send an email to seopco@gmail.com with a “yes” if you also oppose widening the IKE, or a “no” if you are in favor of widening it. We’d like to know what you think.
2. Send an email to the two IDOT addresses listed below with a cc: to seopco@gmail.com expressing your opinion to them. REMEMBER – the deadline is May 20.
FROM THE CITIZENS FOR APPROPRIATE TRANSPORTATION
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is asking for comments by Monday May 20, 2013. All four Build Alternatives that IDOT wants to carry forward widen the expressway. Below is information that summarizes our concerns. Please forward this e-mail to others because the more people who submit comments, the better.
The contact information for IDOT is also below.
Our web site is www.CitizensForAppropriateTransportation.org and you can join our Facebook Page by clicking the Facebook logo below.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Thank you!
Rick Kuner
rkuner@comcast.net
708/848-0942
CITIZENS FOR APPROPRIATE TRANSPORTATION (CAT) ACTION ALERT – MAY 10, 2013
We need your help. IDOT has asked for comments on the Purpose and Need Statement and the Round 2 Alternatives by Monday May 20, 2013. Please submit written comments to Pete Harmet (Pete.Harmet@illinois.gov) and Mark Peterson (Mark.Peterson@illinois.gov) at IDOT. Consider the following and add your personal perspective.
1. IDOT’s Purpose and Need Statement says nothing about the major impacts transportation has on livable communities – a serious omission.
2. By focusing on transportation criteria, IDOT under designed their alternatives. To do a fair and comprehensive evaluation, they should include all the environmental, economic, social, and financial impacts.
3. All four Build Alternatives IDOT wants to carry into Round 3 widen the expressway. At least one alternative should not widen the expressway. IDOT considered two versions of a multi-modal alternative suggested by Oak Park and CAT that upgrade and manage transit better, increase accessibility, and do not widen the expressway. Neither version scored in the top four because IDOT excluded important criteria.
4. IDOT’s proposed right-hand ramps at Austin and Harlem will negatively affect residential neighborhoods close to the expressway. Right-hand ramps move the source of air and noise pollution closer to homes.
5. The Village of Oak Park, Citizens for Appropriate Transportation, and 80+ others submitted written comments to IDOT in June 2012. IDOT did not respond until ten months later in late April 2013. Does a ten month response time make you feel IDOT valued your comments?
6. There are many ways to manage lanes. IDOT has not analyzed most of them.
7. IDOT committed to a Context Sensitive Solutions process, but has never had an architect or urban designer present either concepts or designs.
8. Using projections to the Year 2040, IDOT ranked the twelve Build Alternatives on each criterion from 12 (best) to 1 (worst). Differences among alternatives vary widely. IDOT used this Ranking System to calculate averages, a procedure that treats every difference equal to one. Many differences are so small that projections thirty years into the future are unlikely to be helpful in selecting the best solution.
IDOT should revise their alternatives based on lessons learned in Round 2 so they will perform better in future rounds. For more information see the CAT web site: www:CitizensForAppropriateTransportation.org. You can find IDOT’s documents at www.EisenhowerExpressway.com > Information Center > Reports. Thank you!
CAT 2013\CAT Action Alert May 2013.docx
IDOT’S CONTACT INFORMATION
U.S. Mail
Illinois Dept. of Transportation
c/o Mr. Peter Harmet and Mr. Mark Peterson
201 West Center Court
Schaumburg, IL 60196
Pete.Harmet@illinois.gov
mark.peterson@illinois.gov
FAX: 847/705-4159
www.eisenhowerexpressway.com
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SEOPCO – South East Oak Park Community Organization
P.O. Box 1722
Oak Park, IL 60304-1722
www.seopco.org
seopco@gmail.com
Irving School PTO 