FeedGlen Oak alumni showing no ill effects from exposure to brain-damaging environment
September 30, 2006 in Local
This cannot be right.
After last night’s Woodruff High School football game — The Warriors defeated Peoria Notre Dame 21-14 in the most exciting game I’ve seen in a long time — the Class of 1981 met at Crusen’s for an alumni get-together.
Naturally, there were a bunch of alumni of Glen Oak School there as well.
Tim Opperman was there. He’s an engineer for Caterpillar. He helps design their engines. You may have heard about how wildly successful this company is.
I and chatted with sister’s Susie and Peggy Gerkin. After travelling the world with her Russian businessman husband, Susie has settled in Pennsylvania to be a full-time mom to her two children. Peggy (Susie’s older sister and a member of WHS’s Class of 1980) went off to law school and was a state’s attorney in northern Illinois and now heads a successful law firm. She’d argues death penalty cases. (I was unsuccessful in convincing her to come to Peoria and run against Kevin Lyons).
In deed, most of the Glen Oak School alumni I met seemed to be well-adjusted people. Some were quite successful.
In other words, something isn’t quite right.
Then as now, Glen Oak School sits on only one city block. It is NOT surrounded by trees and grass. In fact, when I attended, even less of that block belonged to the school. Peoria School District 150 assures us all that Glen Oak School is a (figurative) Hell on Earth, so old and rickety it emits waves that suck the learning capabilities out of the brains of youngsters, and that only tearing down this school and relocating it in the middle of a park can those unfortunate students avoid a lifetime of stunted intelligence.
All I can say is that having come out of Glen Oak School, Tim Opperman MUST be the worst engineer at Caterpillar and poor Peggy Gerkin MUST be the worst former state’s attorney to head up a law firm. They must have been fooling the world for all this time. And any minute now, all the Glen Oak alumni who have heretofor been able to function in society will spontaneously become intellectual misfits, in need of any and all benefits the government will provide. Call it a delayed reaction to those rays coming out of the bricks and mortar.
September 30th, 2006 at 10:49 am
Congrats to the Warriors, but you are an idiot. I don’t recall anyone calling Glen Oak School “Hell on Earth.” When it comes to District 150, you seem to want nothng to change except the test scores (upwards) and the taxes (downwards). You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.
Since you graduated in 1981, that means you last attended Glen Oak School between 30 and 35 years ago. (coutesy of wikipedia)
Taking 1974-75 as an example:
Nixon resigned and Ford became President.
The Brady Bunch is cancelled.
Evel Knievel attempts to jump the Snake River.
Ali defeats Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle.
The computer of the times was the Altair 8800.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” came out.
They started building the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline
Representatives for the Soviet Union and United States meet for the first time…in outer space.
Saturday Night Live debuts
Generalísimo Francisco Franco dies (reports coming in just now suggest he is, in fact, still dead)
The gales of November came early, sinking the Edmund Fitgerald.
Wow things sure have changed in the past 30+ years. I am betting that education has changed a little, too, since Nixon was president.
September 30th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
This is strange…I agree with MOUSE on this one. Who ever called it “Hell on Earth”. It’s an old building that costs and arm and a leg to heat and maintain. Forget cooling it. What’s wrong with wanting a new building that is more cost effective to operate?
If they do tear down the old GO School, maybe they can dump a load of bricks in your front yard Billy…for the memories.
September 30th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Hey blogbrains! His point was that the size of the structure was the same 30 years ago and the school none-the-lest turned out quality individuals.
If a new school building is going to somehow make the children of criminals better students, then we should have seen a decrease in crime in the neighborhood when Lincoln Middle School was built, and the recidivisim of Peoria County Jail inmates should have been reduced when the new jail was built.
But according to a Peoria County Sheriff Deputy, the best scenario would have been to leave up the old jail when they built the new one. Then, inmates that acted up would have been sent back to the old jail.
Compromise: Leave Glen Oak school right where it is. Build a new school. As long as you behave according to standard, you get to go to the new school. Mess up and you attend class in the old school.
September 30th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
Anon’s point is taken - an additional 30 years could make a big difference on a building, especially if it is not well maintained. I have no idea what the condition of Glen Oak school might be … I’ve never set foot in the building in my life.
I have to agree in spirit with Bill & C.J., though. I think District 150 needs to focus more on educational initiatives and less on facilities. Whittier is an old school, too … and their report card scores are nearly twice as high as GO’s.
September 30th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Emtronics says: “It’s an old building that costs and arm and a leg to heat and maintain. Forget cooling it. What’s wrong with wanting a new building that is more cost effective to operate?”
The assumption here is that the cost of razing/abandoning Glen Oak and building a new, higher-efficiency school will outweigh the costs of rehabilitating Glen Oak and retrofitting it with a higher-efficiency furnace & (possibly) A.C. That has not been proven. Ken Hinton, by his own admission, has said the district has only done a preliminary review of whether the building could be cost-effectively renovated.
Do we have reason to doubt whether the preliminary review was faulty? Yes, we do. A preliminary review of Blaine-Sumner indicated it wouldn’t be worth renovating, but once the school closed, they renovated it — even adding air conditioning — and turned it into more offices for District 150. Either that, or it’s still a money pit, but the district decided it could afford the cost of renovation and A.C. for offices, but not for education.
Let’s see the numbers. Let’s see the feasibility report. Let’s see the return on investment. Let’s see a little more objective measurement put into District 150’s plans instead of just asserting the kiddies will have better feng shui if they get a $22 million building. The only objective measurement replacement-school-supporters have put forward so far is, “the building is over 100 years old.” Yep. So are several buildings at Bradley. So what?
September 30th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
Well, Chase the Wonder Dog disagrees with me, so I feel even better.
One of the things I have been able to see with my career is the fun that people have trying to shoehorn new technology into old buildings. Buildings where you can’t run cabling because of asbestos concerns. Buildings where the A/C was built to handle a room of 30, but now those 30 seem like 90 because each person now has a CPU and CRT putting out heat, as well. Buildings where the counters were not built with the question “Where do we put the keyboard?” in mind.
CJ - A simple window air conditioner will cool a classroom easy enough if it is empty or has only a few people in the room. Add 25 fifth graders and suddenly it isn’t enough. I decided, for a myriad of reasons, it would be worth the expense and effort of moving my household to Morton. The biggest reason was the asphalt wonderland of Glen Oak School. The school district is THE KEY to revitalizing the old neighborhoods of Peoria. There are plenty of candidates for ‘poster child’ in District 150, and Glen Oak School is as good or better than any of them.
Glen Oak School should stay where it is, but a new environment is needed. More than a building, an complete change of tone. Grass, trees - something that doesn’t scream SLUM or PROJECTS like the current school does.
September 30th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
Anon: I might have fallen for this line of crap … were I not a graduate of this school. Glen Oak is FAR from a poster child for the failures of District 150. Students are getting a fine eudcation there. The teachers are good-to-great, according to the East Bluff parents I know who send their kids there. The school is old, but NOT run down. It is NOT a slum. Some of the houses within its boundaries are. Building a new ranch-style campus out in the park will NOT help these kids. It will endanger them and make it that further a distance to walk in the winter. Try to not speak authoratatively (sp?) of things about which you know nothing.
Tell you what — come on down to the reunion party at American Pi tonight and tell all the Glen Oak grads there that they attended a slum school. It looks almost exactly the same as it did before.
October 1st, 2006 at 2:16 am
Anon E. Mouse sez: “I decided, for a myriad of reasons, it would be worth the expense and effort of moving my household to Morton.”
I don’t think anything else has to be added. You moved to your “Mecca,” found your relatively new or brand-spanking new schools, and the plethora of white faces. Having attended grade school in numerous buildings during my formative years of moving to and fro, I heartily recommend older buildings with history that seeps from the walls (amongst other things, I guess). As many have said, it’s not the building that makes the school, but the people within it. If Dist. 150 put as much effort into creating a new school atmosphere, one which includes strict guidelines, uniforms, whatevah, as they have into mucking things up with Glen Oak School, things would be much more appealing for all concerned.
October 1st, 2006 at 7:45 am
Many THANK YOU’s to Bill, Chase, CJ and Prego Man for your support. As mentioned, the STUDY has never been completed therefore how can a comparison of cost to build new and renovation of the old be made? The City of Peoria has proposed a most advantagious solution for the City, the School District and the Citzens who do or will live in the area. Mr. Hinton continues to request more and more to change his mind. His mind does not matter but I am beginning to also wonder about the District 150 School Board and the board of the Peoria Park District whoe do matter in this case. An insider has informed me that Mr. Hinton plans to give the ok to the purchase of additional homes on Tuesday. The school board will meet again on Monday but the agenda does not list a vote being taken on this subject.
Most of the negative posts have been received from individuals who NOW live completely out of the area and do not work with the children who attend Glen Oak School. I wonder if they would put up with what has transpired regarding selection of a site if it were in Morton or Metamora or Dunlap. I think not. Their respective boards should and most likly would listen to the City, Police department, Fire department, elected officals and the citizens that live in the area. One way or another, we are the ones that will be paying for the project for years to come. It is time that OUR school board listen to more than one person. Its not to late for the children of the East Bluff. Your continued support is appreciated.
October 1st, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Prego man sez: “…the plethora of white faces.”
I sez:
You are hysterical. Who said my kids are white?
The color of your skin, or anyone’s skin, is pretty much the furthest thought on my mind.
Mitch sez: “I wonder if they would put up with what has transpired regarding selection of a site if it were in Morton or Metamora or Dunlap. I think not. ”
I sez: Damn right. You get what you deserve when it comes to elected officials. If a school board conducted business in this manner in most places, the next meeting would be well attended…by parents with pitchforks and torches.
October 2nd, 2006 at 2:00 am
Anon E. Mouse sez: “You are hysterical. Who said my kids are white?
The color of your skin, or anyone’s skin, is pretty much the furthest thought on my mind.”
I sez: YOU are hysterical, pal. I simply stated a fact. You’re the one who took offense at my stating of it. Methinks one’s “skin” is a bit thin because if the support hose fits, wear ‘em.
Anon E. Mouse sez: “Damn right. You get what you deserve when it comes to elected officials. If a school board conducted business in this manner in most places, the next meeting would be well attended…by parents with pitchforks and torches.”
I sez: If all of the hullaballoo on the part of elected officials and citizens of Peoria regarding this monumentally stupid Glen Oak School decision on the part of the School Board does NOT qualify for “pitchforks and torches,” WHAT in the hell does, huh? Besides, I think any protest being done in Morton would involve hand-fans and checkbooks instead of pitchfork and torches, anyhow.
October 2nd, 2006 at 8:18 am
Bill: I’ll give you this one. Glen Oak School, in and of itself, has probably not changed much since you went there. Isn’t this the problem? Furthermore the neighborhood around the school is MUCH different than it was when you went there. This neighborhood, your old home, is in dire need of SOMETHING to kick start it if revitalization is to happen.
This “I went there and it was OK then” argument should finally be over now because you can’t argue with own logic on the subject. You fight change of any kind unless it DIRECTLY benefits you. The kids need this and you know it.
Prego Man: By reason of insanity you have also lost the argument.
October 2nd, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Dear Prego Man,
You introduced the subject of race, not me. I can guarantee you that I did not move away from Peoria looking for a “plethora of white faces.” I don’t even have a “plethora of white faces” in my own home.
As for pitchforks and torches vs checkbooks and handfans, well, whatever it takes to get the kids educated. I don’t think you’ll see the kind of bungle Peoria has made in many of the surrounding towns. Pitchforks or checkbooks, torches or handfans, you’ll find most folks in the surrounding districts are going to do what it takes to get things done.
BTW,
“Well, you just told me that I had a plethora, and I would just like to know if you know what it means to have a plethora. I would not like to think that someone would tell someone else he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has *no idea* what it means to have a plethora. ”
- “El Guapo” - Three Amigos!
October 2nd, 2006 at 1:36 pm
Anon E. Mouse sez: “Dear Prego Man,
You introduced the subject of race, not me. I can guarantee you that I did not move away from Peoria looking for a “plethora of white faces.” I don’t even have a “plethora of white faces” in my own home.”
I sez: I didn’t introduce “race,” Anon. I simply stated a factoid. You ran with it from there. As for there NOT being a “plethora of white faces” in your own home… there ya go, running with the “race” issue again.
Anon E. Mouse sez: “As for pitchforks and torches vs checkbooks and handfans, well, whatever it takes to get the kids educated. I don’t think you’ll see the kind of bungle Peoria has made in many of the surrounding towns. Pitchforks or checkbooks, torches or handfans, you’ll find most folks in the surrounding districts are going to do what it takes to get things done.”
I sez: Anon, you still did not answer my real response. If all of the hub-bub going on in PEORIA does NOT constitute “pitchforks and torches,” then what the hell does, huh?
Tony sez: “Prego Man: By reason of insanity you have also lost the argument.”
I sez: If “insanity” meant that the argument is automatically lost, then NEVER would an argument be won.
(Disclaimer: I apologize to Anon E. Mouse for ripping off the He Sez/ I sez stuff. BUT… I like it. Nyah nyah nyah.)
October 2nd, 2006 at 2:51 pm
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Prego Man, simply put, I was neither running towards “a plethora of white faces” or, conversely, away from a plethora of non-white faces.
As for the torches and pitchforks - nope, I do not see what is happening in Peoria as that. I see just a few people outraged. I think, at this point, the Dist 150 board is prepared to wait you out.
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:42 pm
*plays with markers*
Look, green skin !! Woot.