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Bernadette Gianotti colors a sidewalk square with her son Stephen, a fourth grade student at Beecher Elementary. Her sons (l. to r.) James and Martin also attend Beecher schools as first year Beecher residents.
2009 BJHS Chalk Walk  Share
On a balmy Saturday in May, the Chalk Walk brought pleasure to many Beecher residents as they enjoyed the day's activities. More than 800 people came out to support the school district band program. Five hundred hotdogs, 400 chicken wings, and 50 pizzas were eaten; 240 sidewalk squares were sold, along with 120 buckets of chalk! More than 100 kids enjoyed the inflatables, while 300 others licked ice cream bars until they disappeared. As entertainment at the Chalk Walk, the Beecher High School Talent Show acts shared their gifts, and the BJHS and BHS Bands impressed the audience with their abilities. This united effort of faculty, students, family, and friends raised $7000 to be given directly to the Beecher School District Band Program. Mr. Hodac, band director, will be using the monies to purchase new instruments, help fund scholarships for former band students, repair current equipment, and other expenses. One of the greatest accomplishments of the day was the selflessness shown by many students. Heidi Shavin, Chalk Walk organizer and sixth grade social studies teacher who has been working on the Chalk Walk for months, reported, ''I had over 50 kids attend a Chalk Walk workers meeting, and these kids were jumping out of their chairs to volunteer for various work assignments all day long. I have worked with junior high kids for 12 years, and I have never known them to beg to be at school on a Saturday at 8 a.m. to help with setting-up the booths and to be on garbage duty!''
The volunteers were student council and band members. Many of these were sixth graders who were available at 8 a.m., staying to clean-up until 5 p.m. The eighth grade student council board demonstrated amazing leadership with President Stephanie Salmen at the helm. Laura Walsh, as parent-volunteer coordinator, and Colleen Perkins, running the registration booth, both added to the efficient Chalk Walk day. Behind the scenes, volunteers prepared for the start of the Chalk Walk with parents helping around the clock, a couple of teachers pulling double-duty between their own children and their students, and Mr. Jennings, BJHS principal, handling the manual labor of hooking up the generators for the inflatables. Superintendent Obradovich showed his support by using the Alert-Now system to send a valuable reminder to residents the evening prior to the event. Then, on May 16, everyone kept their fingers crossed for the sun to appear, and suddenly, at 11 a.m. when the Chalk-Walk was to begin, like a miracle....the sun came out, the sidewalks dried instantly by the heavy winds, and the event was off and running. The Beecher School District Bands filled the air with beautiful music, and the BHS talent show contestants demonstrated that Beecher has talent! Even former band students, who finished their first year of college the day before the Chalk Walk, came home to show their support to Mr. Hodac and the band program. They served up 400 Buffalo Wild Wings that were sold out in one hour! Community organizations also joined in the festivities. Local businesses such as Children's Plus and Tony's Pizza set-up booths in the vendor village with many familiar faces from last year's Chalk-Walk. The men of the Lion's Club, headed by Chuck Hoehn, were prepared with their grills and at the end of the day, generously donated over $900. The Beecher Fire Department arrived on a fire truck, sounding their sirens and allowing the kids to climb on the truck for some great photo ops. As a result of the Chalk Walk activities, the Beecher community truly brought new meaning to ''Beecher Bands Together.'' Russell Publications prints several community newspapers each week, serving Will, Kankakee and Cook counties.
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