The January LSC meeting covered a multitude of topics, including the approval of senior graduation, fundraisers for Lane’s respective clubs and business approvals.

The meeting, which took place Jan. 17, began with an established quorum of the panel including parent representatives Anne Lokken, Patricia O’Keefe, Matthew Beaudet, Emily Haite, Benjamin Wong, Ellen Rosenfeld and Julie Coffman; community representative Anna Borja-Scales; teacher representatives Dannixa Velez and Daniel Law (Katherine Whittaker not present); and Principal Brian Tennison. The student representative Ava Sklar was also present.

A resolution was then made to honor Russell McCann (Class of ‘54), a Lane Tech alum who was recently featured in the media for his public support on behalf of his fellow veterans.

While at Lane, McCann excelled as a student in advanced foundry and  as a member of the rowing team. McCann served as a radio-operator on the destroyer U.S.S. Cromwell during the Korean War.

A Friends of Lane spokesperson revealed that over the holidays a Lane parent donated $100,000 to the school —  the largest gift from an individual ever.

Their gift is being targeted to build a “ThinkLab,” which is going to be the next generation of the Makers Lab. Friends of Lane is currently working with the CS team and school administration to specify what ThinkLab is and what it will include.

In terms of the school’s annual appeal, Friends of Lane is at about $35,000. This year, matching gift donations have reached over $15,000, compared to last year’s total of $1,000. This has resulted from the addition of a system where people can quickly look up whether or not corporations that they work for have given gifts, which will benefit the school.

This is a whole new way of approaching corporate sponsors by streamlining the approach so that businesses will be approached by Friends of Lane one time. Their gift will go to Friends of Lane and then based on the gift amount will qualify for different levels of benefits like signs at the gala, banners on streets and presence on the Friends of Lane website.

Upcoming events include:

• 2019 Green and Gold Gala — Taking place May 3, Lane’s largest community fundraising event. Proceeds from the event will provide ongoing financial support of teacher grants, new PE equipment and investments in student programs.
• The Commonwealth Event — Occurring on Feb. 25, guest bartender event. A purchase of $25 buys drinks for 2-3 hours. Teachers and some staff will be bartending and collecting tips for their clubs.
• The Principal Reception — Scheduled to happen on Feb. 28, for all the donors that have given at least $2,000. This year a record number of people will be participating.

After the board conversed about these topics, it was revealed that all incoming freshmen would receive a free Lane yard sign. The members on the LSC felt that it would benefit the school far greater in terms of advertisement than what would be received in payments for the signs. The signs will look very similar to the car magnets, emphasizing the green and gold “LT” logo. Friends of Lane will order extra for parents and students to purchase in the school store.

Principal Tennison discussed various facility updates in his principal’s report.

• The Gym Three locker rooms’ light fixtures and other difficulties are keeping the locker rooms closed, but they are projected to open up by the end of this month, as the first wrestling meet on Feb. 22 is scheduled to be held in Gym Three.
• The girls’ bathrooms on the third floor will be completed soon, and will be usable once the light fixtures and the tile are put in.
• Gym Two has received a new ceiling.
• The Weight Room, Gym One, Gym Two and Gym Three have all had brand new sound systems put in. According to Principal Tennison, this will be helpful to the PE classes because a lot of PE teachers have said that kids aren’t motivated as a result of the music not being able to play very loudly. The gyms will be accessible to everyone from AP classes to I-Day’s clubs.
• Friends of Lane purchased a new forklift to help drama classes. Drama has shelves that need to come on and off the stage, and they will use the pre-existing rolling stage doors that Lane originally built to mount the new forklift. The new forklift can go off the road as well as load equipment in the back of the auditorium.
• Projected work in the auditorium: Apple converted a lot of LED lights and gave Lane a dimmer rack that was installed in the auditorium – that dimmer rack was ahead of schedule and as a result, left a control system that controls all of the incandescent lights except the LED lights. The goal is to finish the last three phases and get the auditorium done so that it will be open for the purposes of productions and renting it for money.
• Gym One needs tuckpointing. An ADA factor is projected at Gym One seating railings because they are too low, so the ADA needs to be converted over to make it ADA safe.
• Gym One needs LED lights and all new light fixtures as well as tuckpointing, improved railings and a fresh coat of paint.
• The pool seating in Gym One has chemicals that are starting to peel. They are coated with aluminum, so over time the rust will come through. There will be a conversion to all stainless steel and a new kind of padded seating.

Principal Tennison moved on to talk about how we are officially “one to one” in classrooms for English, giving teachers equal access to every classroom in their department and additionally, having the same technology and supplies. The goal is to be one to one in all classrooms for the easy accessibility to teachers.

The board moved on to discuss a time to send out parent and teacher surveys. The questions will be the same as last year’s, and both will be sent out at the same time, at the end of the semester.

One purchase order and eleven fundraisers were all approved by the board.

Purchase order:

• $31,756 sent to UIC Pavillion for senior graduation scheduled for June

Fundraisers:

• Rugby club — Selling Lou Malnati’s coupon books in January.
• Swim team — Concession stands for all home swim meets Dec. 12-18 and Jan. 9-29.
• Think Pink Club — Collecting coins and donating all collected money to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in January.
• Guitar class — Selling T-shirts at their guitar concert on Friday, April 12.
• Muslim Club — Selling T-shirts through Feb. 22 to benefit their club.
• Dance and Fitness Program — An online fundraiser  selling snacks to raise funds for dance equipment and materials which began last December.
• Orchestra — Selling desserts, candy and cheesecakes through a Century Resource Foundation Catalog Feb. 19 – March 1.
• Sophomore student council — Hosting two movie nights in the cafeteria, one in February and one in May, but no exact date yet.
• Cluster Program — Doing a service learning project by making jewelry with handmade African beads starting in December through June of 2019.
• Choir — Selling desserts, candy and cheesecakes through the Century Resource Foundation Catalog from Feb. 19 – March 1.

Moving forward to spring, meetings will be oriented towards helping parents with the college process. There will be a parent panel and Common App seminar in April.