OAK PARK : School Board Hosts Brainstorming Day

The Oak Park Board of Education is hosting an all-day community brainstorming session Saturday that organizers hope will produce innovative ideas to help bring the district into the 21st Century.

Called “Vision 2000,” the event will give community members an opportunity to explore such topics as the school’s role in preschool education, drugs, partnerships between schools and business, the role of technology in the classroom, and how to measure educational success.

“Children are going to need to know things that we haven’t even begun to think of yet,” said Meredith Evans, the chairwoman of the event. “How do we teach children to live in a world that we don’t know anything about?”

Recommendations resulting from the day of exchanging ideas about the changing educational needs in Oak Park will be presented at the Nov. 16 school board meeting.

“There will be no speakers,” Evans said. “This is not ‘We’ll teach you.’ You go to work every day. You know what the thinkers and movers and shakers say. Tell us what we need to know to get kids out into the job market.”

The forum will be held at the Medea Creek Middle School from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Interested community members can preregister at the school district building at 5801 E. Conifer St. A $10 registration fee includes the cost of materials and beverages. Lunch costs an additional $10.