W E D N E S D A Y
September 25, 2019 Vol. 39, No. 8 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
Huskies’ struggles continue Page 45
Parents react to frosh curriculum change D200’s first forum about plan to eliminate freshman college prep courses By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
Close to 200 parents and community members packed the Tutoring Center at Oak Park and River Forest High School, 200 N. Scoville Ave., Sept. 19, to ask questions and express their opinions about the District 200 administration’s plans to end the practice of dividing freshmen into college placement and honors curriculum levels beginning with the 2021-22 school year. D200 officials first announced their plans in August, but the spirit of the measure (that something needs to be done about the racial inequities underlying OPRF’s advanced educational offerings) has been at least 30 years in the making, which many officials and community activists emphasized in response to those in attendance who said the move took them by surprise and that its rollout, so far, has been rather murky. Other people in attendance expressed concerns that the curriculum change might lead to diminished academic rigor for high-achieving students, although See FROSH CURRICULUM on page 10
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
IN TUNE: Ellen Clough, Ron Baiman and Ben Stark are regular members of the Oak Park Farmers Market Band, which gathers every Saturday morning through October behind Pilgrim Congregational Church.
Drawn together by music
Educators, journalists, scientists tune up weekly as the Farmers Market Band By MICHELLE DYBAL
T
Contributing Reporter
hey gather around on Saturday mornings from asparagus season until the last pumpkins are picked. Each gets a turn to select and lead a piece as they go around a circle, which shrinks and expands from a dozen up to 30 musi-
cians, depending on the weekend. Some are seasoned veterans. Others, not so much. But it doesn’t matter. All are welcome. The Farmers’ Market Band, which began in 1982 as a promo for the nowdefunct Lake Street store Guitar Fun, comprises people from all walks of life. They get free doughnuts, which some like and others find heavy and greasy.
But, it’s the music that brings them together, according to Geoff Tillotson, longest running member of the band, who joined just one year after it began. He plays banjo and fiddle. “What’s special is the connections I’ve made over the years through the music and the friends I’ve made,” said See MARKET BAND on page 15
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