TFN Class of 1991

Last Gasp?

2007-04-12T13:32:00.000-05:00

Okay, I think it's probably time to call it a day on this attempt to start a page for the TFN Class of '91. Clearly, not any real interest. I haven't decided yet whether to remove the whole page or just let it lie dormant...

As a last-ditch attempt to see if *any*one has any interest, I am e-mailing everyone from our class who has a classmates.com account. Honestly, though, I don't really expect any response... Which is kinda fine, really. But just in case, I'll hold off here for a few more weeks...

Memories...

2006-11-24T08:36:00.000-06:00

The Northwest Indiana Times features and article about a project at TFN that highlights the history of the school:

Old yearbooks, pictures, diplomas, pins, jackets and jerseys are just part of the collection that includes an issue of the school newspaper, The Thorntonian, that highlights the time that Olympic champion Jesse Owens visited the school.

Memorabilia of former TF North football stars Mike Tomczak and John and Mirko Jurkovic is also on display.

The complete story is here.

Hello?

2006-10-08T09:49:00.000-05:00

I have a feeling I am just talking to myself when I come here, but...

IF anyone is still reading this and has ideas how to get more alums to see it, let me know. Maybe I will see if I can post a message on myspace...

Another new Alum site

2006-05-18T13:16:00.000-05:00

Amy Fuller alerted me to another new TFN alumni site. the site claims not to be affiliated with the school at all and is free. BUT, there is no info about who is running the site, so I'm a little curious about that. Not too many people have signed up on it yet. I did this morning. (I also sent a question to the site administrator asking about who is compiling/maintaining the site.) Might be worth checking out...

Douglas Long and wife killed

2006-01-29T08:01:00.000-06:00

Dr. Long, who was principal when we were at North, and his wife were killed in a car accident early Saturday. There is an article here.

UPDATE: There is an article on the Chicago Tribune website now, too. Apparently, his wife was a principal at an alternative school in Robbins. Read the Trib article here.

Improvements in TF school buildings

2005-12-07T09:33:00.000-06:00

From the Northwest Indiana Times:

Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215 is ready for the future, thanks to 118,000 new square feet unveiled this past weekend, officials said.

About 100 people viewed the new space in an open house at Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing and Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet City.

"I view our schools as lighthouses for the community," Superintendent Robert Wilhite said. "We rededicated the buildings with the mission of serving our communities in the future. It was a very moving experience."

Read the whole story.

Oh, for cryin' out loud!

2005-11-30T11:20:00.000-06:00

From the Star:

"The dismissal of a Thornton Fractional North High School principal who was found sitting in bed with a drunken math teacher at a 2001 leadership conference was upheld Tuesday by a Cook County judge.

"Principal Steven Toth was accused of retrieving a beer for the already intoxicated teacher while she was swimming in a hotel pool and later was observed by two other female staff members sitting in bed with the drunken woman and his assistant principal."

Actually, Toth wasn't even at North yet when we were, but I thought the story might be of some interest anyway.

(I am not sure how long this article will be available, but I e-mailed it to someone, so I have the entire text saved for the time being. If you want it, e-mail me.)

Another free resource

2005-11-30T11:19:00.000-06:00

Graduates, a new-ish site, is trying to

The founder says: "I started Graduates.com to help you keep in touch with friends from school. The site lists over 200,000 schools from over 200 countries.

Graduates.com has very little advertising and we don't charge a fee. I plan to keep the site free forever because I believe people should be able to keep in touch without paying service charges of US$25-$65 a year."

The problem with the free sites, like graduates and this blog are that they rely almost solely on word-of-mouth. Pay services, especially Classmates, do a lot of advertising, get the most attention, and attract the most members. I wish I knew a good way to lure people to the free sites so that we could stay as connected as we choose to without shelling out fees to do so.

Consider joining graduates and spreading the word.

Some good news out of North

2005-11-21T08:43:00.000-06:00

From the Northwest Indiana Times:

"A trend of rising test scores at Thornton Fractional North High School led a college entrance exam organization to study the school's environment and its methods. The school's ACT data shows that TF North students are beating the odds... TF North is one of only two high schools in the nation with high-minority and poverty rates that saw rising ACT scores and a large number of college-bound students...."

Read the whole article.

15 Years

2005-08-24T08:20:00.000-05:00

2006 will mark the 15th anniversary of our graduation from TF North. Does anyone know anything about a reunion? Did anyone here go to the 10-year reunion? I didn't because, at the time, the cost and location weren't working for me. How was it? Any ideas for the future? Any ideas about how to get more of our classmates to this site?

Updates

2005-08-10T12:09:00.000-05:00

Another handy thing: If you want to know when this blog is updated, but you don't want to check it every day, you can click on the "Bot-a-Blog" button in the left margin and have an e-mail sent to you every time someone posts.

friendster

2005-08-10T11:55:00.000-05:00

It's been a long, crazy summer here. I hope all of you have enjoyed the sunshine! I just wanted to let people know about Friendster. It's another place to register for free and to get in touch with friends at no cost. You can post pictures, info, even a blog. *And* you can search for people by hometown or school. Might be worth checking out...

Blogging 101

2005-04-17T13:45:00.000-05:00

It seems there has been a little bit of confusion about what, exactly, a 'blog is and how to post to it.

"Blog" is short for "weblog." Basically, what that means is that it is a kind of on-line journal, an alternative to a message board. As members post, their messages appear on the screen, newest at the top. Older messages are eventually (usually after about a week or so) archived so that they remain available while not taking up screen space.

Anyone from our class who requests one will receive an invitation to join the blog. The invitation will include a link on which you will need to click. If you do not already have a blogger account, click on the link and when it opens, you will need to click on "create account." On the next screen, you just enter your name, a desired user name, and a password.

After you do that, you will be signed in and will be taken to the blogger home page. On the right-hand side of the screen, you will see a box entitled "your blogs." TFN1991 will be listed there.

When you click on TFN1991, this will take you to the screen which allows you to post something to the blog, not to the blog itself.

You will need to log in with your username and password at www.blogger.com when you want to post something. If you only want to read the blog to see what’s going on, you should go to http://tfn1991.blogspot.com/. (After you post something, there is a tab you can click that says "view blog," which will open the blog in a new browser window and will allow you to see how your posts appear.)

To post something in the "comments" field after a post, just click on "comments." You may want to sign your comments, since it does not automatically show who posted the comment.

I have added a link to blogger in the margin, also, right under the picture of North.

I hope this is making sense! If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know and I will do my best to help you out. Blogging can seem a little bit confusing, until you get the hang of it, so don’t fret too much! ;-)

Alumni e-mail and webpages

2005-04-14T13:36:00.000-05:00

Amy suggested we create an e-mail list of blog members so if alum want to contact each other independently of this blog, they may. So, if you want a link to your e-mail included, please let me know and I will add it ASAP.

Also, if you have a personal webpage you wouldn't mind sharing with everyone, I will gladly add a link to that as well; just send me the info!

Thanks!

Spreading the word...

2005-04-13T09:51:00.000-05:00

So, it seems the best way to let people know about this blog is through Classmates.com and then word of mouth. To that end, I set up a free 7-day trial version of the Classmates gold account so I can let all the registered members of our class know. Sadly (or maybe wisely), Classmates limits the number of members you can e-mail each day, so I only got through about 20% of the people there. No problem, though; I'll just do some every day until it's done.

In the meantime, if any of you who click on over here have the e-mail addresses of other members of the Class of 1991, please send them a quick e-mail letting them know about it.

Thanks!

Sad news

2005-04-12T20:21:00.000-05:00

My cousin, who currently attends TFN, has informed me that Mr. Schmoekel died recently. He didn't know details, just that the funeral was to have been today. He wrote: "Apparently no one in the family told the school until late Saturday/Sunday night. My Spanish teacher was pretty miffed about that... The funeral was already today, though. At least half the teachers were substitutes. I think all the administration was gone, too, because he was a dean, too."

Nothing on the school website...

Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!

2005-04-12T18:23:00.000-05:00

So, I'm not sure how much of a success this will be, but it's something Amy Fuller and I have spoken about in the past -- creating a free web presence for members of our class to keep in touch with one another. So, here ya go. I don't even know how participatory I will be, but I wanted to set it up and then leave it as an organic place for others to get together if they so choose, without the need to give money to Corporate America.

If you want to get involved and post on here, just send me a quick e-mail and I will send you an official Blogger invite to the site so you can get started. (You can, of course, always post comments without being an "offical" part of the blog.)