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Larger Than Life Artist Depicts Robert Crown Students' Favorite Stories on Hallway Murals

Posted on: Friday, 31 March 2006, 21:00 CST

Students at Robert Crown Elementary School in Wauconda are watching their favorite books come to life.

With the help of muralist Nancy Bermann, characters such as Winn- Dixie and David from the David Shannon series now grace the halls of the school.

Bermann, a Wauconda artist, is working on her master's degree in teaching and hopes to one day teach in District 118.

Until then, she will continue leaving her mark all over Robert Crown.

So far, Bermann has decorated the kindergarten hall with the cover of "David Goes to School." The third-grade hall was recently painted with the help of the students with "Because of Winn-Dixie" artwork. Bermann said the murals take about a week to complete.

By the end, a series of five murals depicting the favorite book of each grade level at the kindergarten through fourth-grade school will be on the walls of Robert Crown.

"The kids vote on their favorite books and now are helping put them on the walls," said Principal Terrence Brennan.

"They really enjoy this project and the pictures will be around for generations to come."

It's gone: The 100 years of memories attached to Forest School in Fox Lake are gone today, as demolition workers took down the last part of the building last week.

Demolition crews will spend the remainder of March ripping out the foundation the school once stood on.

The building, which served school children from 1907 through 2003, was demolished to make way for a 12-story condominium building at the corner of Forest Drive and Grand Avenue in downtown Fox Lake. Memory bricks are still available for anyone who wants them on the north side of the site - near Glen Preschool.

Construction on the new facility is expected to start as soon as summer, depending on building permits through the village.

Book it: The Fremont School District 79 Parent Teacher Organization-sponsored book sale in February brought in thousands of dollars in books to the media centers and classroom libraries at both the elementary and middle school.

The sale netted $22,000 in overall book sales. Classroom libraries received $1,300 in books and media centers at both schools received a total of $5,900 in books.

Mundelein-based District 79 serves 1,912 students kindergarten through eighth grade.

Are you wearing school pride at spring break? Whether it's Cancun, Florida or just a party with friends, Lake Zurich Unit District 95 is asking students to show off their school spirit during spring break.

The district's office of communications and community relations wants students to share vacation photos from this spring break or any other time, if students or their family members are wearing their school's spirit wear.

Only photos with spirit wear representing District 95 schools will be accepted.

Whatever destination staff members or students are headed to, take your spirit wear and a digital camera.

Send photos (less than 1.5 megabytes in total file size) to jim.jennings@@lz95.org. Make sure to identify the location and the people in the photo, as well as your school. The district will publish a virtual D-95 Spirit Wall Web page, and some of the photos in upcoming editions of the "THRIVE in 95" newsletter.

Learning the ropes: U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean and state Rep. Kathy Ryg spoke to the students of West Oak School on Election Day Tuesday.

They talked about the election process, their job responsibilities and how the state and federal governments work and how they differ.

Both also told students at the District 76 school in Mundelein how they think government can work to improve education.

Students were also given information on Internet safety and how to protect themselves online.

Military visitor: Army National Guard Spc. Mike Bernicchi visited a Butterfield School third-grade classroom to thank the students for writing to him while he was stationed in Iraq.

Bernicchi, a cousin of third-grade teacher Carrie Johnson, is a member of the Army National Guard, 651st MP Company. Students have been writing him letters and cards over the last few months he was stationed in Iraq.

Bernicchi lives in Florida but was in the area visiting relatives when he stopped at the Libertyville District 70 school.

Memorial to fallen student: Students at Aspen elementary school in Vernon Hills District 73 will plant a tree and butterfly garden next month in memory of Zach Tran. Tran was a first-grader who died after being struck by a soccer goal.

Zach's classmates, who are now in third grade, and students in Allison Tran's fifth-grade class will work together on the project. The project will be April 17, on what would have been Zach's 8th birthday.

- Daily Herald staff writers Corrinne Hess, Mick Zawislak and Madhu Krishnamurthy compiled this report.

Source: Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.

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