Between Yesterday and Tomorrow

Here’s an edited version of a D2D message I received (see below). I keep wondering if there’s a mistake: would the village contribute over a million dollars towards a sports field when it can’t even afford a full time art teacher at Lake Bluff School? Perhaps board members aren’t familiar with recent studies showing the economic impact of the arts. And the self-esteem impact, which I mentioned in my last blog. I’ve taught art and writing mainly in out of the mainstream facilities, definitely far different from the Shorewood schools. And I’ve seen that the more ways people find to express their thoughts and feelings, the better they feel about themselves. Let’s drive to distinction in an art cart, not a golf cart.

Hi Suzanne!
Thank you for the satisfying (yet unsettling) series of blogs about the hateful disgusting D2D being imposed on us. I love the idea of 600k going towards greening of Shorewood.

Digging into the field scares me just on its own...we have no idea what is under there, what prompted the early planners to put the field there in the first place. Gas lines? Power lines? The fact that we're going to lose that as green space, in all senses of the word, makes me feel physically sick. What little grassroots thing can we do to stop it?

And to think they only needed $8,000 to save the art program at Lake Bluff and keep the teachers in school all day instead of having to switch hit in different schools every day.

I also love how the alumni club's annual get-together is a golf outing. No other outing is allowed. GOLF. Where are we?
Jenny

Thanks, Dave Tatarowicz. I’d assumed part of the $1,065,000 for D2D was that bleacher money, and I’m very glad you set me straight (see below). So how many Nicholls will the bleachers cost???? Have School Board members explained yet why artificial turf is more important than the Science Building Project? Maybe they could provide the science building with a better radar screen so no taxpayer funds could slip underneath.

Dear Suzanne,
Actually the TAX money being used is
$465,000 of Tax Dollars --- graciously contributed by the Village Board at their last meeting
$350,000 of Tax Dollars --- squirreled away by the School Board from the Science Building Project
$250,000 of Tax Dollars --- under the radar screen, the CDA is tossing a Quarter of a Million of our Tax Dollars into the project.
TOTAL TAX DOLLARS TO DATE: $1,065,000
The amount contributed for the Bleachers by Mr. John Nickoll is in Addition to the amount above !
Dave

Dave Tatarowicz calculated that taxpayers will pay $1,065,000 for D2D. Mr. Carlton lowered that somewhat, pointing out that it included a private donation by a misspelled donor earmarked for bleachers. Perhaps a fair compromise would be to just build the bleachers and forget the turf and dome.

A D2D committee member wrote me that he knows families who won’t move here because of sub-standard athletic facilities. I’d rather see those families move to communities that already fulfill their athletic standards. Then we can use the taxpayers’ remaining $815,000 (assuming that $250,000 is the bleacher earmark and that the other funds actually exist) to improve the arts and academics in Shorewood schools instead of cutting back. This is a more positive way to build students’ self esteem. The point of competitive sports is to prove you’re better than everyone else.

If I had a voice concerning D2D, I’d just say no. And as a taxpayer, I should have a voice.

"Do you know what D2D stands for?" asked a friend.
"No, but I'm sure it has something to do with education," I replied.
"It has to do with a sports field and an inflatable dome."
"No! You must be wrong. Not in Shorewood."

Imagine this: Every village in the country contributes $600,000 towards
artificial turf and a dome to have its very own sports field. Would that help make the world a better place?

Now imagine this: In an era of global warming which threatens the viability of life on this planet, every village contributes $600,000 towards a plan to become green. Not green with envy over others' sports fields but green with caring about the environment. Would that help make the world a better place?

Here's how we drive to distinction: Instead of installing artificial turf we could cultivate natural earth. An educated and creative community like Shorewood could devise a comprehensive plan that's a paragon for villages across the country. We could educate our citizens about risks and alternatives and about decreasing energy usage, help them to stop polluting our land, air, and lake. And we could develop ways to monitor this.

We moved here 38 years ago for the school system, and most people moving here today come for the same reason, despite the fact that we're cutting the budget for education instead of increasing it. Who would move here for a sports field?

Drive to distraction, drive to destruction, drive to extinction, we should put our money where our life is.