We can put you where you’ve always wanted to be. In the spotlight. In the action. Onstage!
Your Park District is creating a theatre program where all are welcome, and all can shine. Acting? Yes. Singing? Yesssss! Designing and building props? We have all the tools.
Do you love to perform? Well, we spent the last year thinking about you. We used our time creating a new Theatre program where you can use your talents, learn, grow, and show your friends and family that you’ve got what it takes! Sound like fun? It is!
This fall, you have the opportunity to sign up for any of the 8 new classes we’ve created that can start you on the road to stage (or screen) greatness. Take a look:
Introduction to Theatre. This class is all about learning stage directions. Those are all critical for any young performer, and you’ll concentrate on the basics, and the correct terminology, so you’re ready for whatever comes your way. Things like:
Broadway Here I Come. Acting, of course. But also music and dance. If musical theater is your thing, then this is your class. You’ll be swell. You’ll be great. You know the rest.
Teen Improv. This is a brand new class. It’s specialized, but maybe you are, too. Check it out!
Take the Stage. Our 2023 summer camp was a great big hit! Look for details next spring.
In our art classes at the Park District, we’ll teach you what to look at, how to look at it, and how to draw it!
Most people who really would love to draw and paint have never taken a class because they just don’t think they have any talent. Well, drawing is a skill. It can be taught. We can teach you to draw, and you’ll have a great time doing it.
How do we know? We do it every day, for artists of all ages at all levels. Can you see shapes? Great! That’s where all art begins. Circles, squares, triangles, ellipses. On one level it’s quite simple, and when you learn to see, and learn to make the shapes you’re seeing, your confidence grows exponentially. Join one of our classes and beyond the joy of creating you’ll also get some extra benefits.
More hand-eye-brain coordination. That’s important at every age, along with developing and maintaining fine motor skills, but seniors may find it especially important to keep their hands, eyes, and brain working together in harmony.
Actual benefits to your brain. While you draw, your brain builds new connections and pathways. The left side is responsible for logical thinking and the right side is where your creativity comes from. Since both sides are active, the brain grows. Query: If you draw the brain does your brain grow even more?
Concentration. Drawing requires that you focus on the subject and concentrate on the marks you’re making. You must be present. In the moment. Doing that for an extended period of time, like a class, can train your brain to do that at other, perhaps more important times. It’s so much better for you than scrolling endlessly, and when you’re done concentrating on your drawing you just might have a beautiful piece of art that you can be proud of for years to come. Wouldn’t that be lovely!
A better mental attitude. Many people feel more at ease while they are drawing. Certainly, Vincent did. Drawing is a well-known therapy tool for stress relief. It can feel like meditation. When you feel productive, you more often just feel good about yourself. We know we do.
You might just develop an artist’s “eye.” Drawing can help you see proportions and the relationships between objects. It can help you be a better judge of measurements and distances. Things you can apply to other areas of your life. Drawing can be so much more than marks on paper, once you learn to see.
Did we mention how much fun it is? If nothing else we’ve said has moved you (or made your brain light up), think about taking an art class with a friend. Sharing your new skills and enjoying each other’s sketches is one of the great joys you’ll experience. We guarantee it!
One of the areas that Julie Nichols, our Recreation Program Manager, and Chris Holling, our Recreation Supervisor for Youth Enrichment & Arts, began to focus on a couple of years ago was the creation of a Dance program at the Park District that filled a need in the community.
After running some free workshops and talking with those participants to better understand what they wanted from the district, they built a program that grew to include more than 200 dancers—in just 9 months. Is it fun? You bet. Is it providing a place for young performers to express themselves? Without a doubt. Is it successful? On more levels than you would think.
Dance is one of the Performing Arts that benefits all ages in ways that go way beyond just physical strength, movement, and flexibility. In our program, dancers learn about good nutrition and how to combine that with proper stretching and strengthening routines. Dancing is an excellent outlet for their creativity, and they get support for that from their peers. That builds self-confidence and self-esteem which can carry over into so many other areas of their lives.
Our Spring 2023 Dance Recital, held onstage at Northwood Middle School, was attended by more than 400 of the dancers’ family members and friends. Confidence poured from the stage. That’s what a well-crafted program can do when it’s run by Park District staff who care deeply for the participants. We know that many of our Cultural and Performing Arts programs are the first step on the road to the next level. That’s what you’ve told us you want, and that’s how the programs are designed. But even if your child is a budding Yo-Yo Ma, or Baryshnikov, or Kristin Chenoweth, they need a place to start where they get the support they need—and still have fun. That’s us. That’s what we do, every day.
Just as our Music program feeds the brain, so does our Dance program. And while your dancing brain is lighting up, here are some other well-documented things that are happening:
We hope knowing some of that makes you want to get up and dance. We’ll join you down at the Ozdust Ballroom!
2 Science confirms: Dancing makes you happy. Read the article here.
As cold weather approaches, the Park District of Highland Park and City of Highland Park are partnering with the Community Care Collective of Chicago’s 33rd Ward to collect much-needed items for asylum seekers arriving in Chicago.
More than 18,000 migrants, mostly from Central and South America, have come to Chicago since last fall. Hundreds continue to arrive daily in need of shelter and supplies. Together, we can make a difference and extend a warm welcome to those who are seeking refuge and a brighter future.
For Men, Women, and Children (Lightly Used/Clean OR New):
For many families in Highland Park and Highwood, their Park District is the place for recreation and healthy activities, including music lessons!
Ask Sonia Rochon, and she’ll focus on something you might not think of as what we do here: how much her son Desmond loves taking piano lessons at the Park District! Sonia and her family moved to Highland Park from Chicago in 2019. In addition to taking other fun classes at West Ridge Center, Desmond, who is now in 4th grade, has been studying piano for the past year. “He really likes his teacher,” said Sonia. We hear that a lot about our teachers, and it’s something we’re quite proud of. “He’s come a long way in a short time,” said Sonia, “and I feel like he’s gotten a great start for everything moving forward.”
She also agreed with some other things that music educators have always known, and that we stress in our program: learning to read music is akin to learning and communicating in another language, and playing an instrument activates parts of the brain that are strikingly different than the ones we use when listening to music. That can help students, of any age, be more successful in other areas of academics and socialization. Research on the neurobiological effects of music on the brain has shown that the process by which we hear and interpret musical sounds is quite complex and that different types of music, and different musical instruments, activate different areas of the brain. So, while you have always known that playing piano, guitar, or violin is certainly a physical activity with great benefits to manual dexterity, and a mental activity that increases your ability to concentrate and memorize, now you can add brain development to the reasons why taking lessons is good for your health and happiness1. Sweet!
Of course, we never forget that music lessons at the Park District are fun! Check them out and we think you’ll agree.
1 Here is some extra special “This is your brain on music” fun: Dr. David Silbersweig of the Harvard Medical School has written about these specific areas of the brain and what they do as far as playing and listening to music: The temporal lobe helps us understand tone and pitch. Our cerebellum helps us process rhythm and timing. The amygdala and hippocampus are responsible for emotions and memory.
Coach Wally Kormylo, who passed away on October 3rd was a legendary figure in the Highland Park hockey community. During his 76-year career, beginning as a player in Canada and then moving to the states at 20 years old as part of a traveling ice show—jumping barrels and performing other tricks on skates—hockey was always his passion. As a coach, he helped dozens of aspiring players become well-known greats. “I worked with Wayne Gretzky up in Canada for two weeks, an hour every day, to work on his skating. My profession was power skating, making hockey players faster,” said Coach in a recent interview.
We all knew Coach Wally at Centennial Ice Arena, where he taught generations of young hockey players in the Falcons Hockey Association, and won more than 20 State Championships. “Everyone was excited,” he said.
Nick Meo, who was a Facilities Manager for the Park District for more than 15 years, remembers Coach very fondly. “I first met Wally Kormylo over 40 years ago when I was first learning the sport. Wally, like my father, was instrumental in my love for the game of hockey. Through the years, he became more than just my coach. He was a mentor, a friend, and most importantly, an inspiration to me and thousands of kids and families in the hockey community. He was a true legend. I went to visit him in the hospital just before he passed and his final words to me were “I will try to make it to practice tomorrow.” Wally was a pioneer in the hockey industry, and he will be missed by all.”
Coach was well known for his inspirational phrase: “Skate Fast. Skate Hard. Have Fun.” We promise to do just that every time we circle the rink at Centennial.
Thank you to all of our residents and staff who donated to the Shop ‘N Drop Food Drive, in partnership with SaLT: Service and Learning Together and the Highland Park/Highwood Rotary Club!
Pre-packaged food donations were collected to provide groceries to Highland Park and Highwood families facing food insecurities from Monday, August 14 to Sunday, September 10. The Park District collected over 1,000 items to help feed 75 families in need. Roughly 30 volunteers including 12 Park District employees volunteered on Friday, September 15 to sort and stuff grocery bags and then deliver them to local families in need.
The food drive and service event have contributed to:
In a thank you email from SaLT organizers, “These numbers are not just statistics; they represent the lives we’ve touched, the families we’ve supported, and the countless hours of service provided by our incredible team of Shop ‘N Drop Superheroes. None of this would have been possible without your collaboration and support.”
For many gardeners, the first signs of fall in the garden bring a mix of emotions—a look forward to the marvelous array of colors and textures that will soon be on full display, and the signal that another gardening season is coming to a close. If you look closely at the goldenrods in the next few weeks you will see an insect bonanza—all shapes and sizes coming together to feast on the last flowers of the season with their abundant pollen and nectar. Asters serve a similar purpose, drawing late season butterflies and many bee species to buzz pollinate their way around the disc florets at the center of each flower. It’s really fun to watch!
This is a perfect time to begin collecting seeds from Baptisia, Penstemon, Echinacea, Eurybia and others that can be cleaned, stored, and stratified (a pre-treatment using cold moist conditions) to be ready for germinating late winter and early spring, or sowing late fall—there will be many more to gather before the heavy rain and winds of fall do their thing. It is also the perfect time to stand back and assess your garden for form, function and to make some choices on any adjustments needed now or for the coming year.
First up, we must decide what to do with the current fading flowers, stems and leaves. My advice is to be selective. While even I cannot help myself from cutting back the gnarly remains of some species, plants like Echinacea have parts that provide great function if left in place (or partially in place) over winter and into the following year. Two common species of Echinacea, E. purpurea (purple coneflower) and E. pallida (pale purple coneflower), both appear to provide just as much function after flower as they do while in full bloom. They have large hollow stems that if cut to a height of 18” or more become potential nesting for native bees, and the flowers mature into dark orbs packed full of large seeds that will attract a chattery bunch of goldfinches.
Grasses such as Sprobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed) or Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem) develop beautiful golden tones with seed heads that sway in the late season winds. These grasses (among others) provide food and nesting for small birds and other animals. So, if you are ok with hosting this bit of wildlife, leave the grasses in place until late winter, at which time you can steady the hedge trimmer, shears or pruners and chop them back to about 6”.
If you are looking to up your late-season spectacle, think asters! Symphyotrichum leaeve (smooth aster) and Symphyotrichum oolentangiense (sky blue aster) are two garden favorites and are beautiful planted in with warm-toned fall grasses. Consider species with structural seed heads such as Monarda fistulosa (bee balm), Dalea purpurea (purple prairie clover), and Parthenium integrifolium (wild quinine) among others. And of course, if you are planning to add something to your garden this season or next, it really should be native—for the bees, for the butterflies, for ourselves and our kids.
Leave the leaves!
There is so much happening in the fallen leaves that collect in the garden: Beneficial insects overwinter in this debris, and many organisms feed on this matter as they help to build heathy garden soil. Make sure your garden looks good to you—and your neighbors—and squeeze in some added environmental benefits whenever possible.
Liz is a professional horticulturist, observer, artist and writer, and co-owner of North Branch Natives, an education-focused native plant nursery.
The Park District is always developing and testing new programs based on community feedback and trends — whether it is a new program topic, a different time of day, day of the week, or even a different age group. Every season, we add several new classes to the list of offerings that we think you’ll enjoy based on resident suggestions. We try to include fitness trends and other recreational activities for adults. We add nature classes and adventures for kids and families. And we’re always looking at when classes are offered, to better fit your schedule. Whether or not the classes run is most often based on how many people register, but sometimes we hold a class with just a few participants and then tweak it to get more responses.
So, we thought you might like to know a bit about how we create and try out new programs.
Julie Nichols, our Recreation Program Manager, has been working on the question ‘what kinds of Park District classes do Highland Park residents want,’ since she joined the district two years ago. “Even though I had worked in Parks & Recreation on the Northshore for many years, it was critically important for me to understand the Highland Park and Highwood communities.”
Throughout the first year, she offered one-day workshops for a number of different programs, as a way of testing and evaluating the response. “I was in the room during all of those sessions, so I could see and hear what the participants were interested in, and what they wanted to add to the park district program lineup.” She invited them to share their feedback, and they did. “Parents and grandparents told me that they were looking for more weekend options, more programs after 5pm, and that they really wanted more art, music, and dance classes.” Discussions also included adding STEM classes, and that resulted in offering Coding and Engineering with Legos. Julie added, “Online surveys don’t really bring in great response numbers. But talking to residents face-to-face really gives me a chance to listen, and for them to know they’ve been heard.”
Julie, along with Chris Holling, the district’s Recreation Supervisor for Youth Enrichment & Arts also hired a new Dance Coordinator and tested response to a brand new dance program. They held a free, one-day workshop where parents and prospective students could meet the instructor and get a feel for what the program would offer. Then they ran a short summer program. Was it a success? Within 9 months the program had 200 dancers participating in a Spring Recital where more than 400 family members and friends came to applaud! We call that show a big hit.
“We were able to deliver what everyone was looking for, all because we listened to people,” said Nichols. “Our niche is to provide something that anyone at any age can try for the first time. Here, you’ll be celebrated for your choice, you’ll learn something in the classroom, and you’ll be inspired to do more. We hope our participants will want to continue and perhaps move to a next level program, but what we provide is the first stepping stone.” That’s how we do it here at your park district.
In her second year, based on more one-on-one discussions, Julie, along with Chris, launched a whole new set of performing arts classes. This summer they ran a specialty camp called Take the Stage, designed for kids ages 1–4. “Campers enjoyed the full range of traditional summer activities, like swimming and sports, but we featured things that we heard would appeal to ‘theater kids,’ including stage direction, music direction, choreography, and prop construction. It was a great success!” Julie’s favorite Take the Stage memory? “Seeing the pride and confidence on the campers’ faces as they performed.” As they looked ahead to creating a fall theater program lineup, Julie and Chris asked the Take the Stage counselors to write a personal note to each family. “Those letters were so important, because we were able to tell moms and dads that their child had shown a particular interest in music, or dance, or acting, and we could recommend that they look at one of the new classes we are now offering this season.” Those include Introduction to Theatre (concentrating on stage direction); Broadway Here I Come (with an emphasis on music, dance, and acting); and a Teen Improv class.
In the talking stage is creating a Teen Advisory Committee, to help the district develop more programs for that age group. Things like becoming a Certified Babysitter, and being certified in CPR. “We know we can learn a lot from listening to teens in the community, and we’re really looking forward to making that happen.”
The Park District serves all ages, and to learn more about another important demographic in our community—those folks without young children. This summer Julie produced a series called In The Parks — nine free events in nine different parks. Once again, it gave her a great opportunity to talk to active adults and find out what they were looking for from us. “At a recent concert in Memorial Park, where the people were mostly ages 65 and up, we asked questions like ‘where do you find out about park district events and programs’, ‘how do you put it on your calendar,’ and ‘how far in advance do you do that.’” Think of it as trading a free concert for real-time feedback. It’s invaluable, and we are so grateful for the information we get.
Coming up, look for more workshops and more free concerts, including the brand new Dance Team and the Hip Hop Crew doing performances at community events, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes. Giving back. It’s another thing we love to do.
We would also love to hear from you. Tell us your ideas, and let’s work together to make something wonderful happen. You can find us on the website, along with hundreds of programs and events we know you’ll enjoy. Until next time… See you around the parks!
We may have our roots in different countries/cultures, practice different religions, have different skin tones, but one thing we all have in common is our respect for our ancestors, those who have come before us.
The Park District of Highland Park is partnering with the Highland Park Sister Cities Foundation, The Art Center of Highland Park and Working Together to create a community mural. If you would like to participate, please submit a 10 inch x 12 inch drawing depicting ways in which you honor your ancestors.
Select artists will be chosen to paint their pieces with Chicago Muralist, Oscar Romero, at Heller Nature Center during the last week of October. We will have the mural displayed at our Dia De Los Muertos event on Saturday, November 4.
The deadline to submit is September 25, 2023. Submit your art and questions to Jessica Reyes at [email protected] or mail:
Heller Nature Center
2821 Ridge Road
Highland Park, IL 60035
