Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday for our annual Open House event: Super STEAM Saturday. Over 100 families representing all of the D97 schools (and a few others) came out to create mandalas, drive robots, write poetry, draw buildings, play with LEGOs and Ozobots and do science experiments. While students filled out […]
Both new and long-time supporters stopped by the historic home of Mary Jo & Stephen Schuler last Friday night to celebrate the end of summer and support scholarships for BASE Camp. Thanks to our hosts and fabulous chefs Kim Wojak, Alice Ireland, and Wayne Juhnke, over $10,000 was raised to support scholarships. So while this […]
Thank you to everyone who came to our annual Staszak Gala! We had great food, great music and great conversation. We also had amazing performances by our Spoken Word students, OPRF Musicians, and of course our host, Mark Bazer. Most importantly, we raised money for all of our programs. One of the most popular events […]
A record 42 teams competed in this year’s Battle of the Bots
The annual Staszak Gala is less than a month away. This party is so fun it was almost declared illegal by the Oak Park Police Department.* In addition to fabulous entertainment from emcee Mark Bazer and the OPEF Spoken Word Clubs, the party features several raffles, and a live auction filled with exciting, one-of-a-kind events […]
Having friends over for a special dinner? Imagine how it would feel to choose a wine as special as the evening from your sommelier-curated collection of wines. One of our most popular Gala items, the Instant Wine Cellar raffle, is back again. For only $20 you can be entered to win a collection of 24 […]
We’re thrilled to announce that local TV host and nice guy Mark Bazer has once again agreed to host the OPEF Annual Staszak Gala. The gala will be held on March 17th at the gorgeous Columbus Park Refectory. Tickets are now available online. Mark’s day job involves working for the Man, a man named […]
We are two months away from our annual William C. Staszak Gala and things are starting to get exciting! This event is almost entirely planned and run by volunteers, and so our committee members are vital to the success of the gala. This year’s committee members are all current or past D97 parents. We […]
A rainstorm the morning of November 4 put a slight damper on the attendance at our first Open House in two years, but everyone had a great time, and stayed fully engaged in the activities. Here are some highlights of what we did: Architecture Adventure encouraged kids to recreate architectural landmarks on a light table. […]
Fifteen Oak Park middle schoolers shared their intimate and humorous perspectives on a range of subjects– school, friends, relationships, rejection, adult authority, political upheaval and gun violence–in a moving night of poetry performances for the culmination of OPEF’s Spoken Word program. Families, teachers, and supporters packed the performance space for the 2nd Annual “Respect the Mic” Poetry Slam […]