OPRF & groupthink: A dull path forward

Aquick Google search retur ned the following definition of groupthink: “the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility.”

Listening to OPRF High School board members “vote their conscience” on how best to finance Project 2 should not make us mad However, it should make us sad. Sad for our community and sad for the soul of OPRF High School. Groupthink and conformity continue to permeate our schools, crushing creativity and limiting critical thought.

It was clear that, in the past, at least two board members believed that some form of referendum financing is the best long-term solution for our community. However, when asked to stand up for our community, our families, and in what they believe, they suddenly chose to go along with the crowd.

For other board members, the slow grip of groupthink was gradual. Some “expert” members decided to try the dramatic TV lawyer bit, bringing up emotional pleas at the 11th hour to trick themselves into believing it was OK “this time.” It did not trick the critical thinking of Oak Park and River Forest community members.

Speaking of critically-thinking citizens, our board leader suggested we don’t understand this complicated school financing stuff and actually said, “Everyday taxpayers don’t understand the workings of the finances.” Maybe our board should have taken the issue to a referendum, a process that promotes transparency and further discovery, to help us simpletons better understand. This “we know better than the folks we represent” is not a good look when we are your neighbors and friends.

Over the last several years, our board members and school leaders have acted as if they believe our taxpayer-funded schools belong to them and not us. Some will say, “Hey, they won the election so they must represent the community”. Well, our voter turnout is unfortunately low, and Trump won an election too (yes, only one), and thank goodness there are guardrails in place. Schools have no such guardrails, particularly when administration and board members are in “perfect” alignment.

Please note, the recent board vote was not about the actual Project 2 work, as the scope was already approved. All of us believe our kids deserve better spaces than past leaders have provided. The recent vote was about community, the future and sound financing principles. Our board failed to stand up for future community members for the sake of wanting to belong. To belong to what?

As a kid, when I would make poor decisions (and there were plenty) I would say, “but Mom, all the kids were doing it.” And she would say, “OK, but if the kids were about to walk of f a bridge, would you follow them?” That lesson always stuck with me. Succumbing to groupthink and not thinking critically has long-term consequences.

Go Huskies

Oak Park Far mers Market is opening on Saturday, May 20, and I’m beyond excited. The market, which will run through Oct. 28, is one of my favorite parts of spring, summer, and fall. The Far mers Market takes place at the Pilg rim Church parking lot at 460 Lake St., one block west of Ridgeland Avenue in Oak Park each Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

As a volunteer Friend of the Market and a re gular Saturday shopper, I have delighted in the intersecting connections of food, music and community that make up this weekly event. For me, it is like gathering in a town square and visiting with old friends, people watching, and buying produce that tastes so much better than anything that I can buy at the super market. To fall aslee p, some people count the alphabet or U.S. cities and states. For me, to fall asleep at night, I sometimes count items at the Far mers Market and where they are located: asparagus/apples, berries/broccoli, corn/cauliflower, donuts/delicata squash, eggs/e ggplants, flowers, and I’m of f to dreamland.

In 2022 there were 25 vendors at the market. Colleen McNichols, the market manager, expects even more vendors this year.

When the Oak Park Far mers Market started in 1976, it was playfully called the Far mer Market, as there was only one vendor far mer.

The Oak Park Far mers Market is popular with people from Oak Park and nearby communities. According to Sara Semelka, public health education manager from the village of Oak Park Health Department, the “number of shoppers varies each week; the average in 2022 was about 3,700 shoppers per week, sometimes reaching as high as 5,000 at the height of the season. Using the weekly average, we would estimate about 88,800 total shoppers, though many of those, of course, were re peat customers who came multiple times throughout the season.”

During the Far mers Market season, I plan to share with you some behind-the-scenes stories about the market — how did the donut sale start and who are the donut makers, more about the bluegrass band, and of course, the vendors.

Joy Aaronson is an Oak Park resident and re gular Oak Park Farmers Market shopper. She has been a Friend of the Market and looks forward to volunteering at the mark et this season. Joy has contributed to Chica go Pa rent and written the Kids’ World column for the former Logan Square Free Press.