Elaine’s Notes

I wrote several weeks ago about a parent protesting some of the food being served at her child’s school during renovations of the kitchen.
So I think it’s only fair to write about a letter sent recently to Marla Ernst, the school district’s food service director.
The writer’s kids go to Orion Oaks and she describes the food as “fabulous.” The mom likes the “fresh items, nothing fried” — lunches she would pick for them.
She says in the past she’s only allowed her children to buy lunch on “breakfast” days (waffles, etc) or days with “snack lunch” (string cheese, yogurt, etc) and occasionally pizza.
The mom went on to write she hopes the kitchen renovation takes a very long time.
“I realize eventually we will be back to chicken nuggets and tacos. When that happens, please keep in mind, that for kids who don’t eat Mexican food or fried good, the opportunity to purchase lunch is very small.
“I hope when the kitchen is up and running, the fresh foods will not take a back seat to more unhealthy versions.”
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Jesse Baker, the principal at Stadium Elementary School for the Arts, wrote an article that was recently included in a college textbook called “Early Childhood Education Today.”
The article is called “A Parent-Friendly School. The school, by the way, was named a “Parent-Friendly” school by Parent Magazine.
Baker, in his article, praises his school’s PTA. He says the group “brings the community together and encourages student involvement in affective and academic areas.”
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Pine Tree Elementary School is receiving a big smiley face for being the earliest school to call us up and invite us out for a photo opportunity — two in fact — assembly kick-off for the school’s upcoming Fun Run and opening of its playground.
During the assembly Piston’s Coach Steve pitched exercise and staying healthy. He asked (no told) principal Diane Dunaskiss to get up in front of the student crowd and do some push-ups with him, which she did with no trouble at all.
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School superintendent Dr. Craig Younkman mentioned to school board members at their meeting last Wednesday night that anyone interested in filling the vacancies on the Oakland School Board of Education could send a letter of interest and resume to Oakland Schools.
It didn’t surprise me when by their actions and some verbiage, it was evident that all the board members present had no intentions of doing so.
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Jessica Clouse, representing the LOHS Student Council made an appearance at the last village council meeting. She requested some streets be closed for the homecoming parade on Oct. 3.
But it was what she said while she was being asked questions by council members that shocked us all. There aren’t going to be any floats in this year’s parade.
The scuttlebutt going around town is new staff at the high school voted not to have floats to cut down on the volunteer time necessary after school to work on the student creations.