Growing up in Cook County, I was blessed with a lot of great experiences. I remember my visits to Leng’s Fountain for my favorite old-fashioned phosphates, or an original Cherry Coke before there was such a thing in a can.
Before eating out in restaurants became commonplace, I remember the excitement of our annual dinner out at the Birch Terrace where we would eagerly await the famous rack of ribs and secret dinner rolls that called you to eat until you simply couldn’t.
My brother and I used to bike downtown and bring back rolls from the Loafer or World’s Best Donuts. Many times the deal was that our parents would get us rolls if we biked down to get them. I guess you could call it a family delivery service. Some of those bike rides were an exhilarating adventure of freedom, while others were fighting off the tears of a cold Lake Superior morning.
However, all throughout my childhood until graduation, and then again as an educator for the past 20 years, one thing has always been commonplace: The community’s support for the school. As a kid I remember wherever I was in town, getting the same question, “How is school going?” I still get that question on a daily basis. This community cares about the school.
When I was young enough and still physically able to get my hair cut, Chuck at the barber shop was sure to ask me how school was. He would ask about my different classes and then maybe ask if there were any big games coming up on the calendar at school.
These may seem like common, mundane memories to you, but the more I reflect on my experiences as a child, the more I would love for every child to feel that kind of love and support from a community. I loved my school experience, and that is ultimately what led me back to school and back to my hometown community.
In that spirit, our K-12 principal Dr. Bill DeWitt and I have an idealistic vision for something we could do as a community to inject some positive school and community spirit next fall. We want to give every student who walks into school next year a free T-shirt on the first day of school. We want them to know that everyone matters. Each and every one of our students matters.
We have sent out an email to many businesses in Cook County inviting them to purchase Cook County Vikings T-shirts for their employees to wear to work on Fridays during the school year. We have been encouraged by the quick responses we have received in support already.
We now would like to include any and all community members to join us as well. Would you be willing to join us and wear the Viking Blue and White on Fridays next year? Can you imagine what kind of effect this would have? Imagine an entire community supporting the Blue & White of Cook County schools!
If you would like to join us, please email me at mdorr@isd166.org to take part in our pre-sale order. We will be ordering a good quality T-shirt that will sell for just $8. If you would like to order a shirt or even make a donation, please email me with your name and shirt size.
We would love for you to join us and we appreciate all of your past, present, and future support regardless of your participation or not in our community-wide shirt venture. It is our vision and goal to build a positive school culture while also building positive relationships within the community.
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