New Mosaics Grace D97 Walls
NEW MOSAICS GRACE THE WALLS OUTSIDE FOUR D97 SCHOOLS It's always inspiring to see creative ideas burst into fruition for all to enjoy. This school year you will find original mosaics by renown artist Tracy Van Duinen gracing prominent exterior walls of...
Teacher Spotlight: Guillermo Delgado
Folk Art fun with BASE Camp's Guillermo Delgado Guillermo Delgado is the kind of OPEF instructor that makes campers feel instantly at ease. When visiting his BASE Camp Folk Art classroom, Delgado had familiar classical soundtracks from top movies like...
Recreating History with Harmonicas
Children from Mr. Podlasek’s second-grade performed at Oak Park’s Belmont Village last week, sparking smiles and warming hearts for the residents. The students have been working with OPEF’s Art Start artist John Milan, who taught them songs to sing and...
Voices Shake the House at School of Rock
OPEF Spoken Word students shook the house at the School of Rock with their raw honesty and powerful words last week. The poetry slam, titled Respect the Mic, fostered creativity and self-expression while giving kids the opportunity to speak about their lives in a...
Robot Rumble!
Six teams of VEX Robotics students at Julian Middle School designed robots, then built and battled each other in a Robot Rumble, exploring the various aspects of technology in competitive fun. The hands-on projects were organized in small groups, and kids...
Bingo Bash honoree says OPEF program transformative for kids, teachers
'Allowing teachers to see students for who they really are’ Buying a ticket to OPEF’s re-invented fundraiser not only allows you to support amazing enrichment programs in Oak Park schools, it also gives you a chance to celebrate an influential teacher who does so...
Introducing the Bingo Bash Planning Committee
What does it take to pull off a bingo-themed party for 200 people and make sure your guests can win great prizes, enjoy yummy food and drinks, and support a great cause while having fun with friends and neighbors? The first, most important step is to deploy an...
A Big Idea to SHINE
We know how important summer and extra-curricular activities are for children. It's a thrill to watch kids engage in active, hands-on learning, having new experiences and making new friends. We're fortunate that our donors have made our robust scholarship program...
Announcing Bingo Bash 2019
This spring there's a whole new kind of FUNdraiser coming to town! At OPEF our mission is to provide kids with meaningful, enriching and fun hands-on educational opportunities, why shouldn't our fundraisers be the same? OK, Bingo is not exactly educational, but the...
Teaching Literacy Through Poetry
As part of the Art Start program, students in Ms. Barkers' class at Lincoln have been working with teaching artist and poet Jenn Morea on a literacy and poetry project to boost their vocabulary. Using Christina Rossetti's "Who Has Seen the Wind", as inspiration,...