Established 1930

Despite wearing facemasks, the smiles of Richards High School teachers and administrators shined clearly last week as they welcomed half of the freshman class for the first day of in-person instruction. 

Months in the making, staff members greeted the ninth graders with safe-distanced care and cheer.

“This is the first time since March that I’ve had students in this classroom, and it’s awesome,” said English teacher Jim Bolhuis as freshmen entered.

District 218 schools returned to in-person instruction with half of freshmen on Thursday, October 15, and the other half on Friday, October 16. This week all students came for in-person instruction, half on Monday, October 19 and the other half on Tuesday, October 20.

Full story available in the Oak Lawn Independent

Come Trick or Treat safely at the Calvary Oak Lawn Church’s outdoor Trunk or Treat from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 24.

The church is located at 10056 Central Ave. Church members and friends will be handing out goodies and trinkets (factory wrapped only) from their decorated cars and/or trucks. 

The rain date is Friday, October 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. For information, call 708-429-2200. COVID-19 safety rules will be followed. 

Full story available in the Oak Lawn Independent

District 218 announces that its Technology Department has completed the first stage of a multi-stage process to bring Wi-Fi to various locations around its schools. The first stage focused on parking lots so the district can offer drive-up Wi-Fi access for students and staff. 

They have already begun stage two, which will expand coverage to more parking lots as well as some athletic fields around Eisenhower, Richards and Shepard. 

All district-issued student and staff devices (iPads, MacBooks, etc.) will automatically connect to the drive-up Wi-Fi within the coverage areas. Staff and students can connect to the drive-up Wi-Fi at any district location, including the Administrative Center and Delta/Summit Learning Center. 

If families have an internet outage, they can travel to the nearest district location to download class resources or submit assignments from a student iPad.

A district-issued or approved device is required to access drive-up Wi-Fi. Public Wi-Fi is not available in the parking lots.

Full story available in the Oak Lawn Independent

Two therapy dogs joined the Oak Lawn Community High School staff for the 2020-21 school year. Golden retriever brothers, Luigi (pictured, left) and Franklin, are excited to be supporting OLCHS and its students. Luigi, training with social worker Sal Montes, has his home base in the Student Services office where he attends group sessions with social workers and counselors. Franklin, training with Principal Dr. Jeana Lietz, spends his days in the Main Office. Both brothers greet visitors and walk the hallways. Students and staff can also visit their offices when needed and can be reserved for classes so students can read to them, learn dog care, and participate in art therapy. 

Dr. Lietz is proud of the recent addition to the staff and has stated, “For a few years we have been bringing dogs in during Final Exams to help with stress relief. Based on the success of those small interactions, I knew that full-time dogs would have an impact on the social-emotional wellbeing of our students and staff. And with the added stress of the pandemic, this year turned out to be the perfect year to bring them in the school. I look forward to seeing the impact they make as they grow up and become fully trained.”