On a blustery November afternoon, Ms. Turi's Holmes 3rd graders were huddled up inside working diligently on, well, work. As part of their Delta Science unit, they are studying the force and motion we use to get things done and the simple machines that help us do it. Geared Up, the Oak Park Education Foundation's LEGO engineering program, underscores the concepts related to work.

With Geared Up, kids use LEGOs to build many types of simple machines, such as levers, wheels and axels, and pulleys. Ms. Turi's students on this particular day were building pulleys. The students were learning that each part plays an essential role in how machines work. When asked what he thought of playing with LEGOs in school, Sean B. said, "Complicated. You need to find the right pieces. If you get a wrong piece it could mess the whole thing up." Sean and his partner Jalen D. did get all the pieces right -- and built both a fixed pulley and a moveable pulley.

Together students read the Delta Science small book for each simple machine and go over the vocabulary. Then before Ms. Junker [GU coordinator] comes in, students watch a demonstration of the LEGO machines. Ms. Turi said, "Geared Up enhances the lesson in Delta Science by giving them additional hands on experience with the concept."

Meenah H. agreed, saying "It does help make the concepts make more sense." For instance, the students could see from both the demonstration and then from their own construction and testing that the moveable pulley (in which the pulley lifts the load) was the easiest to operate, taking less force or work to move. Caleb Y added, "It's fun, but you also get to learn a lot."

Using a push-pull meter, Ms. Junker demonstrated how with different configurations you can decrease how much you have to pull but will have to increase the distance that you pull and vice versa. Will V. said that "science is my favorite subject and the LEGOs part is my favorite part of the science."

Ms. Turi's class, along with third-graders throughout the district, will continue to participate in Geared Up throughout the school year.

Click here to see photos from Ginger Yarrow.



 

Imagine you're eight years old and an accomplished architect regularly visits your school classroom and helps you design a building. Or a renowned astronomer teaches you to follow the planets and make a mock comet. Or an award-winning artist helps you write and perform a play about the Underground Railroad. You're having so much fun that you don't realize you're learning math, science or social studies!

District 97 students don't have to imagine these scenarios. For 21 years, scores of children have benefited from Oak Park Education Foundation (OPEF) programs, which tap the remarkable talent and expertise of generous local professionals. OPEF brings area architects, scientists, artists, and engineers into District 97 classrooms, opening young minds to new ways of thinking and learning.

Every year we expand and enrich our unique, hands-on programs: Vex Robotics, Architecture Adventure, Global Village, Art Start, and Geared Up. Because they take place mostly in everyday classrooms, OPEF programs reach ALL Oak Park public school children. Our newest endeavor, BASE Camp, has further expanded our reach by inspiring kids to think and experiment during the summer.

Please enable us to keep our valuable programs vital by clicking here to make a fully tax-deductible contribution to OPEF. To learn what your donation pays for, click here. Help a child discover that she has a passion for engineering or robotics or that he has a talent for drumming or painting. Your generous support does make a difference.



 

All Hatch 4th graders were treated to an exciting walking field trip downtown with the Chicago Architecture Foundation, where they had a wonderful time identifying columns, arches, trusses and many other architectural elements.

Inspired by Chicago architecture, and assisted by art teacher Molly Burns with volunteer architects Gaby Miramon, Scott Fortman, Lisa Chervinsky, Naaman Landers, Debra McQueen, Eric Davis, Julia Johnston and Pam Whitehead, the students are building their own structures using corrugated cardboard.

Click here to see a slideshow of photos by Laura Constans of Coco Lapine Studios.



 

We recently interviewed John Milan, a local musician who has been teaching harmonica with Art Start since its inception in 1998.

Tell us about your musical background.

I started accordion when I was 8 years old. Accordion was really huge back in the '50s and' 60s. There were even accordion bands back then. My parents didn't give me a choice. I said I wanted to play the drums and they said "No, you'll play the accordion." So that's what I did for 5 years. The buzz to play the drums never left me though, so I finally convinced them to give me lessons when I was 16. Bought my first drum set when I was 17. I studied at both Triton and Morton Colleges as a music major and performed in rock bands, jazz bands, and wedding bands.

I taught full-time when I was in my 20s, and then I got a straight gig making musical instruments-- the vibes, marimbas, xylophones you see in orchestras. I worked in the largest, most famous mallet instrument maker, Musser Industries in LaGrange. I worked on Lionel Hampton's vibe; he played in the original Benny Goodman quartet. I worked on one of Frank Zappa's member's vibes. I was a marimba player and student and so it was a great job to get up close to the instruments. But I never let go of my teaching. After working 8 hours in the day, I would do private teaching in the evenings. I started at Guitar Fun in '85 at Ridgeland and Lake and I've been there ever since [teaching percussion and harmonica]. In '96, I started the transition into teaching full-time.

Have you always taught harmonica in Art Start?

The focus has always been harmonica and mostly second grade. My fantasy was to teach harmonica in schools. Back in the '20s, '30s, and '40s all the students in America learned harmonica in the schools. There were no recorders [like kids learn in school today]. At one time there were over 150 youth harmonica orchestras in Chicago alone. There were harmonica contests in major department stores in large cities. The kids were really good and the competition was fierce.

My first class was at Irving School with Donna LoCoco. It was a total blast. She was a great teacher to work with: super-organized, really into it, inspired the kids to want to do well and have fun.

What keeps you interested in teaching harmonica?

I get enjoyment out of seeing the response the students have as I they're learning. Most of the kids get really excited when I come in. For some of the students it's their first exposure to a musical instrument. My focus is on "performance with as little pressure as possible!" That creates an initial positive experience. A lot of students walk away saying "Wow! That was easier than I thought it was going to be!"

I tell them, "just pucker and blow directly into the hole and don't worry about playing more than one note. " If you were playing the piano and you press two keys next to each other at the same time, the neighboring key usually sounds pretty bad, but with the harmonica, the one that I use for the classes, if you play two holes at the same time, usually they are in harmony with each other, and it sounds good. They say "Hey I can do this. I recognize what I'm playing. It sounds like 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' or 'Star Wars' or 'Ode to Joy.' This actually sounds somewhat like the song, instead of mass destruction."

The main feature of all harmonicas is you have two different notes in the same hole, one blowing out and one breathing in. You have to know when to blow out and when to breathe in. In fact, the harmonica is the only wind instrument in the world that produces a tone by breathing in. The system that I use is a circle for breathing in and a plain number for breathing out and usually the kids catch on to that pretty fast.

One of the other benefits to teaching the kids is that some of the students will end up becoming private students. And the cool thing about that is that I've had kids go on to play harmonica in the jazz band at Brooks and Julian.

Can you share a particularly memorable moment from your years working with Art Start?

Boy, that's a tough question; there are a lot. Last year, Mr. Podlasek's Longfellow students were just so focused and well behaved. After you work with a teacher for several years, they have a good sense of the routine and what needs to be done to prepare the class. I walked in there and it was so easy to teach them. It makes teaching so much fun.

Another huge memorable moment was when I taught at Mann School last year, all four first-grade classes. When it came time for all four classes to play together at the same time at the concert, they just rose to the occasion. You know, with all the parents there and Deb Abrahamson [OPEF Executive Director] sitting there, I'm wondering "How's this gonna go?" And I was just so impressed with their maturity. I thought, "This is inspiring!" I'm very proud of them.

Another beauty of the program is giving kids who might never have a private lesson the opportunity to have that experience. It also gives kids a chance to have a positive musical experience from the beginning. For those who go on to band, that can make the difference between wanting to stick it out or not.

John will be playing the harmonica with a recorder trio on December 5 at the Oak Park Conservatory's Annual Holiday Open House.



 

We're so proud of Mr. Podlasek's and Ms. Pasquinelli's Longfellow 2nd/3rd graders, who won 1st Place in the LEGO Landmark competition at McCormick Place in Chicago on October 31!

This joint project of the Oak Park Education Foundation's Geared Up and Architecture Adventure programs involved designing and building an elaborate model of Frank Lloyd Wright's Home & Studio out of LEGOs. Students researched and toured the Oak Park landmark as well, learning about architecture and architectural history.

Entries were from not just the Chicago area but from across the US - Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, and West Virginia. Our winning entry received over 1,600 votes from LEGO Kidsfest visitors -- 46 more votes than the 2nd place finisher.

Congratulations to the talented and hard-working 43 students and 2 teachers who participated, as well as architects George Beach, Kimberly Zeister & Randy Guillot, and all of the parent volunteers who helped. Thanks also to Jan Kieckhefer, Director of Education for the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust.

The competition was designed to provide students an opportunity to explore and learn about their local, regional, or state history while discovering the value and importance of teamwork, imagination, and creative building.

To see more photos and an article from the Oak Park-River Forest Patch, click here. You can also see Gretchen Junker's photos of the project here.