Feedback Friday: Folks Talk Mokena's Week in News

Overheard on Facebook

One of the most popular stories of the week was .

Here's what folks said on the Mokena Patch Facebook page:

Margaret Yerkes Hanania This is awesome! Thank you so much for your service Michael Schatzman! Your bravery & commitment to your country is greatly appreciated. Thank You!

Paul Wagner It's great to see Mokena come out to show support from our troops. It takes a whole lot of sacrifice and time being away from family and friends, but it's a great thing to welcome home any service member returning. Keep up the good job. We all appreciate your dedication and hard work fir our country! GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.

Comment of the week award goes to Kathy Green Gaitan after we posted a link to a story about because he never wrote the court-ordered letter of apology to a couple he injured in a crash in Mokena last year.

Kathy Green Gaitan Awwwww TOO BAD!

Our story about got some comments.

Kirsten Lundh Peterson Wow! I wish her good luck and hope that her new district fares better than we did.

at got some folks talking this week.

Jen El Support local video stores! Mokena video rocks!

Merry DiGiacomo We don't have a video store in Orland to rent from any more :(

So of course we had to invite her to swing on down.

Merry DiGiacomo Well, maybe one day! That sounds like a great video store. Hoping they are able to stay in business!

One reader was irked by word that .

Therese Murphy Dydo Schools are going overboard. Why don't they start with the garbage that is served in the lunch rooms? Processed foods there.

Finally, one reader had some thoughts on .

Kent Davis Thanks for keeping with this; local residents (IMO) need to understand 1) how the schools are funded 2) refrain from a knee-jerk reaction that there's fraud and waste to still be cut out of the budget 3) stop blaming the teachers for every ...bit of school related bad news that comes down the pipe 3) and be prepared to pay more locally if they expect the same level of excellent education provided by the district or start pressuring the state of Illinois to get off their duffs and reform the funding process.

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Voices Speak Out on Mokena Patch

There were tons of comments this week, thanks in large part to . Check out the reader reviews of all the pizza places in town, but especially , which got 14 new reviews in one day!

Other big talkers this week were Michael Schatzman's homecoming. My favorite comment came from the young soldier's mother.

Thank you, to all that came out to show your support for my son, my hero, our American Soldier, Sgt. Michael Schatzman.

Karen Perry's new job also got some attention.

I sincerely wish Mrs. Perry good luck in her new district. Clearly it was not a good fit for her in 159 and I hope Fithian, (wherever that is), is a better place for her talents.

Perry came to Mokena at an inopportune time. Supts are like baseball managers: they are bums in one city and heroes in another city. Good luck to her.

I wish her luck and hope this move is a better fit for her. I am not sure anyone could have done better than she did, given the situation she was brought into.

Readers squared off over , replacing a three-day overnight program in Wisconsin with two day trips to Olympia Fields.

When will they stop taking things away from the kids? This is ridiculous! They talk about it taking time away from the classroom. However, the two day trips will take the same amount of time away from the classroom. School is not 24 hours. These kids go away to Camp Timber-Lee and come home a little more mature with a limitless more independence. That's a lesson in itself. If it's a money thing, then raise the cost to cover the trip. I, for one, would pay a little extra so my child could have the experience she has waited since Kindergarten for. Stop punishing the kids already!

When will our community get it, our schools are facing the same money constraints as most households are these days. Yes, you can say you will pay to cover the cost, but not everyone has that 200 sitting around. The school needs to take all students situations into consideration. If more parents became more actively involved in our schools, they would not be so surprised when decisions are made. Parents in our district need to stay more actively involved in our schools/committees/meetings if you want to have a voice in the outcome.

And wrapping up this week's Feedback Friday is a sweet personal shout-out in . (I still swear there were two kids dressed as Steve Jobs.)

Mrs. Esgar is a wonderful teacher. My son truly enjoyed her class. She goes out of her way to make learning fun. I wish she had been my teacher. Keep up the great job!!

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Thanks everyone for your continued readership and support!