THE MCHENRY PLAINDEAI.ER SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875 3tuart) Winning ilrUispaptt 1978-- Illinois Press Association Newspaper Contest OIUME 103 NUMBER 81 WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1979 2 SECTIONS 26 PAGES 20' ACHIEVE Keeps Behavior Problems Off Streets Attraction At Trade Fair "Sparky", the McHenry Fire department dog, "talks", with children about fire safety during the McHenry Trade fair last weekend, "Sparky" was a big attrac tion, sponsored by the McHenry Township Fire Protec tion district. Between Friday and Sunday evening during which the fair was in progress, about 4,000 persons converged upon Parkland school to view some or all of the 55 exhibits. It was the sixth annual Trade fair sponsored by the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce. STAFF PHOTOS/WAYNE GAYLORD A presentation of the ACHIEVE program at East campus was listened to with interest by the board of High School District 156 meeting in East campus library last week. Jim Aull., ACHIEVE program director, outlined the purposes of the program and its operation during the in structional meeting. The program is a type of in- school suspension in which students in violation of smoking rules, cutting classes or other behavioral problems are segregated from other students in a particular area of the school, under supervision. With a focus on "linkage", the regular classroom teachers and counselors are contacted to determine a student's weaknesses. In the ACHIEVE program, teachers or coun selors work on these particular shortcomings in an effort to get the students back in the classroom and functioning with classmates. Aull explained that contracts are signed by the parent, student and teacher, in which agreements are made outlining the rules and punishments. "This assures there will be no misunderstandings", Aull commented, adding that the students seem to feel the im portance of a written contract Asked by a board member why repeat offenders are brought back time and again to the program, Aull said an effort is made to keep them in school as long as possible and not out on the street where they may become a problem for society. The program was at first funded by the Illinois Office of Education. When this funding was no longer available. Aull found assistance from the Illinois Law Enforcement commission under the project title, "Intensive Intervention: Truancy and Drop Outs". Outside funding is expected for next year, but recognition of the value of the program in dicated the board might vote for its continuance with or without this support Norb Wolter and Dennis Welter were present to explain results of the SEE program validation by a visiting team in April. SEE stands for Simulated Employee Experience and consists of working with various materials and equip ment to turn out finished products which are saleable. District 156 has received a total of $114,219 to operate the program over the past three years because SEE is classified as "original and innovative in nature". The money covers all aspects of the program in cluding teacher salaries, construction of room, purchase of equipment, etc. The goal of this funding is to field test the effectiveness of an educational program over a three-year period so that if it proves to be valid, it can be implemented by other districts. Although funding for a chosen project is available to a district for a total of three years, districts must resubmit an application each year for the money. Prospects are good for the local high school to receive the funding this year, but formal approval by the state is necessary During the next year the district will be funded to diffuse the SEE project to other school districts in the state Presently, there is a pilot diffusion in Johnsburg To carry out the diffusion process, a proposal has been drafted for a $60,000 grant. Newly elected president Edward Neumann announced committee appointments as follows: Building, Dan Mr Nulty, chairman, .lames Tonyan and Paul Nitz; Negotiations, Benrud. chair man; Barbara Slater and Tonyan; Transportation, Tonyan. chairman Nitz ;>nd Benrud. Curriculum. Nitz. chairman, .ludy Zid and Me Nulty; Budget. Ms Zid chairman; Benrud and Slater. Insurance. Ms Slater. Ms. Zid and McNulty The new Building Trades house at 1017 Hanley. Whispering Oaks area, will (».• ready for open house Ma\ 12 and 13 Of eight bids requested. Tidy Hug of Woodstock was selected to supply floor covering for the new home The low hid was $1,802 36 The new transportation director, Fred Goering. was introduced to the board Following an executive sess ion, the board voted to expel an East campus hoy fo r the remainder of the year as a result of a bomb threat. A second youth was suspended until the next board meeting in connection with the same in cident Council Views RDG Compromise May 14 Three major points of con tention bogged down any chance for finalizing the pre- annexation agreement for the Winding Creek development at the Wednesday, May 2, meeting between the City Council and the Residential Development Group (RDG). The first point concerned the 50 acre park site located in the middle of the development. For the city, the park has been of prime importance because of both a general need for park space for the people of McHenry and because somewhere in the 50 acres a new school might be built. Nothing is definite as far as the school is concerned, but the possibility does exist. Should either the park or the school become a reality, a road would be needed to provide people with access to the park, or, workmen and eventually school buses access to the school site. This road is the second major source of disagreement between the City and RDG. The City would like the road, an extension of Dartmoor west to Cur ran, completed within five years at the outside- preferably sooner. The road, as currently planned, would bisect the park, leaving 18 acres of park to the north and the remaining 32 acres to the south. RDG, on the other hand, says that putting in the three- quarter mile segment of road would be too expensive and economically unsound. "I can't just poke a road out there because all the im provements (water and sewer pipes, for example) have to go under the road. It's $400 to $500 a lineal foot," said Don Ger- stad, RDG president. Gerstad went on to explain that the improvements would have to have branches from the main line so that the road would not have to be torn up later as the area is developed. Also, the City has given RDG Iowa, like Illinois, is part of the Midwest, but more so. Somehow, the big city at mosphere permeates country living here in the prairie state and so you probably wouldn't find a contest like one Iowa newspaper ran. It asked con testants to complete the sen tence, "You're in a small town (in Iowa) when--. The top five answers com pleting the statement were judged to be applicable to any small town in which the writer had ever lived. Here they are; S ...you don't need to use your car's turn signals because everyone knows where you're going; ...you're born on June 13 and receive prizes from the mer chants for being the second baby of the year; ...you can and do speak to each dog you meet by name, and you get a friendly wag in return; ...you dial a wrong number, but end up talking 15 minutes anyway; ...during harvest season, you get run off Main street by a combine. Old timers will chuckle, for there was a time these were just as true in McHenry. Then came the growing pains. Here's how the answers might fit this, or any other mushrooming city today: ...you use your car's signals but it doesn't help. The next lane is full too and nobody knows where anybody's going. ...you're born on June 13 but you're lucky if your Mother and the community correspondent remembers. And prizes? Why, they went out with the flagpole sitting era. ...you can speak to each dog you meet but he's so busy dodging traffic he won't bother to wag in return. ...you dial a wrong number, and you end up with an obscene comment. ...during harvest season you get run off Main street, not by a combine, but by cars, mini- bikes, skateboards, motor cycles, and possibly by an off season snowmobile. If anyone has any other ideas, and they're printable, they will be welcomed. K.A.F. State Legislative Award To Business-Professional Club The McHenry Business and Professional Women's club was honored for the second con secutive year to be selected for the • Illinois state B.P.W. Legislation award. One thousand members attended Prom Royalty This handsome couple reigned over the MCHS prom last Saturday night at Burlingshire Resort, Burlington, Wis. Crowned by the 1978 ruling pair, Doug Oeffling and Lori Fossum, the happy royalty of 1979 are Tim Zelier, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Zeller, and Susan Reeves, daughter of Don Reeves ary) Mrs. Judy White of McHenry. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD the sixtieth annual convention held at the Palmer House in Chicago April 26-29, at which McHenry was cited for its work in prison reform, civic par ticipation, tax reform and support for the passage of the Equal Rights amendment. Legislation co-chairmen Cathy Nolan and Lynne Donarski were given a national Legislation award in recognition of McHenry B.P.W.'s excellence in the field of legislative programming. Also receiving state B.P.W. awards were Public Relations Chairmen Katherine Fredricks and Barbara Gerasch for the publicity given the McHenry club during National Business Women's week, and Foun dation Scholarship Chairman Ilaverne Gregory. Foundation scholarships are available for mature women who wish to further their educations to re enter the job field or advance their career. McHenry has done an outstanding job raising funds for these scholarships and one McHenry woman has received a National Foundation scholarship, Judy Irwin. Visit Job \ Service Van The Illinois Job Service van will be parked on the McHenry County college campus parking lot May 9, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. A manpower representative from the Illinois Department of Labor will be available to answer questions and make referrals to in teresting and challenging employment opportunities. The Illinois Job Service has many summer and part-time jobs available now. The McHenry B.P.W. meets the third Monday of each month and its membership is open to all working women. President of the McHenry organization is Virginia Orr. no guarantee that a sewer would be extended. The third point of contest involved defaulting on the agreement: who is liable and what will happen to the land in the event of a default. The city wants to make the "owners" of the land liable. Owners, in the agreement, refer to the Backhaus' and the McHenry State Bank, the trustee. As the agreement reads now, neither the "owners" nor the "trustee" are liable as far as the money obligations are concerned. The agreement says that RDG is solely responsible and the City does not approve of this. Also, according to city attorney Bernard Narusis, only violation of the cash con tributions would constitute a default. With all other matters (such as the park), he said, there is no time limitation for delivering the goods and legally no default. Gerstad said that it was never stated that RDG would ever give the City the park, although that had been the intent all along. The current plan, Gerstad said, is to give the park to the City in phases j s the land adjacent o <t a developed. Alderman Jack Pepping said that the phased dedication would limit the way the City could put the park land into use. Pepping suggested that the first 18 acres, north of Dart moor road, be given to the city and Dartmoor road extended to the creek in the park within 18 months of the signing of the agreement. Gerstad said that maybe the commitment to the road could be tied to a certain number of developed units The road would become more important as more people lived out Ihere he said Narusis said that there was no guarantee of that many people ever living out there "You have to spell out whon 'h^ r 1 i s going to l>e the re .\T;.voi Stanek said. Gers tad repeated his aigumcnt that the road couH not be built without a sewrr guarantee from the city You're asking us to put our cost of improvements on the line with the possibility of no potential. RDG vice president Jim Berg said "You're not getting a sewer guarantee because you re no t putt ing any money up f ron t . Narusis said Gerstad said that an esc row account with $40 ,000 . fo r example , could be se t up as default insurance so that if he did not del iver the l and 10 (Continued on page 10) Two Wil l Re ign Over Johnsburg Prom Two of these fine looking teenagers from Johnsburg high school will become the first prom king and queen Friday night, May 11, when the choice is announced at Hunter Country club, Richmond. About 55 couples are expected to attend the prom, the theme of which is "Precious and Few". Post prom activities sponsored by the Parents Teachers Organization, will be held at Lost Valley Ski lodge from 1 to 4 a.m. Candidates are. from left.-Glenn Moehling. Lauryn Wernquist, Kerry Cristy. Lingeman. Janice Stetter, Jim Siq.it Lisa Jackson, Russ Oziminski and1 STAFF Steve Dixon, Karen Szunilas. an Hayes. Seott ncvTreston. OTO-WAYNK GAYLORI) A