If You Only Had a Ticket: St. Damian's Class of '13 Book Trip to 'Oz'

Students from the Oak Forest Catholic school stage two performances of the L. Frank Baum classic Friday and Saturday. Find out more about showtimes and ticket prices.

2 Oak Forest Runners Half-Mile From Finish Line Before Boston Marathon Attack

A teacher and a parent from St. Damian School traveled to Boston to participate in the event together. They were 2 of 5 runners from Oak Forest.

A teacher and a parent from St. Damian School were a half-mile from the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday when two explosions went off, according to reports. Andrea Lampasona, an eighth-grade science teacher at St. Damian, and Jackie Hodges, a parent with two children at the Catholic school, were two of five runners from Oak Forest who participated in the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15. READ: Go to Back Bay Patch for Additional Updates According to CNN, three people were killed—among them, an 8-year-old child—and many were injured after two explosions ripped through the finish line of the race.  Information on the other runners was not available. Lampasona and Hodges traveled to Boston to participate in the marathon …

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

St. Damian School Rocks Its Own Lip Dub Video

St. Dmaina School students, faculty and staff filmed a 22-minute lip dub video that features singing, dancing and fun. The video was inspired by similar videos, including Oak Forest High School's from earlier this year.

St. Damian students and staff are proud of their school—and they wanted to show everyone.  Students and faculty showed off their school pride while singing and dancing for the school's very own, 22-minute lip dub video. The project was the brainchild of Spanish teacher Gail Werr and music teacher Amy Loftus. “I saw what the high school's video earlier this year, with the athletics teams,” Werr said. “Plus, I've seen some other ones and I thought, 'Why can't we do something like that?' It looked so fun, but I wanted to showcase everything, not just athletics, because we have so much here.” Werr brought the idea to her fellow teachers and principal Colleen Domke and the idea quickly gained traction. “Everyone thought it was a great idea,” …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Videos (1)

Last Chance for the St. Damian Fun Fair

St. Damian School and the Class of 2013 will host its annual Fun Fair, Saturday, Jan. 19. The fair will be held in the Grimmel Center from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Class of 2013 at St. Damian School will hold a Fun Fair Saturday, Jan. 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Father Grimmel Center. The event will feature food, fun, raffles, games and prizes for those in attendance. The eighth graders will welcome one and all to the event, which will donate proceeds to Neurofibromatosis Midwest. For more information about this event, contact St. Damian School at 708-687-4230. Do you know about an important upcoming deadline? Share it in the comments below and we’ll consider adding the info to our next "Last Chance." You also may contact us at jeff.graveline@gmail.com.

• Photos (2)

St. Damian School Celebrates $50K U.S. Cellular Contest Win

St. Damian School recently took third place, and won $50,000, in U.S. Cellular's, Calling All Communities Contest. The prize money will be used to purchase interactive technology in to the classrooms at the school.

St. Damian School has a little bit more change in the school's coffers, following a third-place finish in U.S. Cellular's Calling All Communities contest last month. With the support of family, friends and the community, the school earned $50,000 towards school improvements voted on by student's family members. Improvements for the school are slated to include new technology in most classrooms, including the updating of older chalk or white boards to interactive white boards. “We've got interactive whiteboards in the newer building, in some of the high grade classrooms,” Domke said. “This money is going to allow us to retrofit the older ones in the main building, or at least most of them. We'll do as many as we can and then hopefully get …

• Photos (2)

A Paws-itive Experience: St. Damian Students Gain Confidence by Reading to Dog

Sixth grade students at St. Damian School in Oak Forest spent class time Dec. 5, reading to Wrigley, a therapy dog. The activity is meant to bolster students' confidence in reading.

St. Damian sixth graders got some reading practice with a furry friend Dec. 5.  Students took turns reading, “My Dog, My Hero,” by Betsy Byars, Laurie Myers, Betsy Duffy and Loren Long to an attentive, patient, tail-wagging Weimaraner. During the session, students each read a paragraph to 8-year-old Wrigley, who sat with ears perked in the middle with handler and owner, Meghan Williams. Williams said that Wrigley, who is also a world champion dock jumper, has been a certified therapy dog for the past four years, starting at hospitals and eventually working his way into schools. “We started out in obedience training,” Williams said. “Once he was certified, we went to the hospitals and went and saw patients. Then, recently we've joined Tail …

• Photos (2)

Where to Hear the Sounds of the Holiday Season

Oak Forest schools are gearing up for their holiday concerts, and Patch has compiled all the info into one handy list.

Radio stations have been pumping out the Christmas tunes for weeks—but there's no better version of 'Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer' than the one your kid's been practicing for weeks. Oak Forest schools are gearing up for their holiday concerts and Patch has a comprehensive list of when and where to hear the sounds of the holiday season this year. Arbor Park Middle School Jack Hille Middle School Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m., at Jack Hille Middle School, Winter Band Concert Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. at Jack Hille Middle School, Winter Chorus G. Kerkstra Elementary Lee R. Foster Elementary Ridge Early Childhood Center St. Damian School Oak Forest High School Saturday, Dec. 8, at 6:30 p.m. at Oak Forest High School, Madrigals Sunday, Dec…

•  9 Comments
• Photos (1)

Michael M.

11:26 pm on Friday, November 30, 2012

Mike-now that you revealed that, some people will want the word holiday banned and replaced with vacation or some other nonsense.   more ›

St. Damian Wins $50,000 in U.S. Cellular National Contest

Oak Forest's St. Damian School grabbed hold of a $50,000 prize, as one of 18 top finishers in U.S. Cellular's contest to support education. More than 180,000 votes were cast, for 1,368 schools across the nation.

Oak Forest's St. Damian School is $50,000 richer, after being named a 2012 Champion in U.S. Cellular’s "Calling All Communities" campaign. "Our theme for this school year is 'all in' and everyone has been all in on this contest," said Principal Colleen Domke. "Teachers, faculty, family—you had to be 18 years old to participate, so this wasn't on the students, this one was all on our community." And the community stepped up, in a big way—even elderly members of the parish carpooled to U.S. Cellular stores to cast their votes. St. Damian was one of more than 1,300 schools competing for a $150,000 prize, and one of 17 top finishers who secured the $50,000 check.  The money will be used to fund a technology package that included replacing …

•  4 Comments
• Photos (1)

Last Chance to Vote for St. Damian School in U.S. Cellular Contest

The U.S. Cellular 'Calling All Communities,' contest ends Sunday, Oct. 21. St. Damian is in third place and in the running for the top prize of $150,000 or one of 17 runner up prizes of $50,000.

Time is ticking down and residents are still needed to help push St. Damian School over the top in U.S. Cellular's Calling All Communities contest. The contest calls for communities to vote for their school, with the first place school receiving $150,000 and 17 runners-up receiving $50,000. St. Damian is in third place. The contest ends Sunday, Oct. 21. For the past several weeks, parents and residents have collected and submitted contact information for votes to use in the contest through a website set up by St. Damian. The website, which can be seen at stdamiancontest.com, allows users to submit their information, which is then used to enter the contest at various U.S. Cellular stores. According to St. Damian officials, the information …

• Photos (2)

St. Damian in 3rd Place in Race for $150,000 Prize

With just under a month left, St. Damian School is currently in third place in US Cellular's "Calling All Communities," contest. The contest ends Oct. 21, with the top school earning a $150,000 prize.

Calling all residents, it's time to help out St. Damian Elementary School in U.S. Cellular's 'Calling All Communities,' contest. Currently, St. Damian is in third place in the entire nation, behind Spring Creek Elementary School and Seymour Middle School, respectively. Efforts to push St. Damian into first place in the contest have been spearheaded by a group of dedicated mothers who are pushing for the top spot and the $150,000. However, Principal Colleen Domke said that is one problem: they're running out of voters. “We're just running out of people,” Domke said. “We just need their info, we can do the leg work for them.” Domke said that if residents visit the school's website and fill out the information card, representatives from the …

•  5 Comments
• Photos (2)