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SATURDAY DECEMBER 21 | SUNDAY DECEMBER 22 2019
SUNDAY BREAKFAST
A messianic Jewish perspective on the true meaning of the holidays. P22
SPORTS
Ramblers roll past Providence in girls hoops home game. P20
SOCIAL SCENE
Scenes from Dar2tri’s fifth annual gala. P14 FOLLOW US:
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NEWS
A Greenhouse Gets the Green Light NEW TRIER ROOFTOP GREENHOUSE TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF A BELOVED FORMER STUDENT. EDITED BY DEBBIE LEE THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
The New Trier Educational Foundation, District 203, and the family of Sofi Troglia have partnered to raise funds for a rooftop greenhouse at New Trier High School (NTHS). This week marks two years since the passing of Troglia, a former student in the district’s Educational and Life Skills program. “Sofi was well-known and beloved,” says Denise Dubravec, Winnetka campus Principal. Describing it as “a warm and welcoming oasis in her memory,” Dubravec says, “this greenhouse will help current students in the program learn about science, art, and business while developing important vocational and social-emotional skills.” According to Joanne Panopoulos, Assistant Superintendent for Special Education, the greenhouse will provide students in the ELS and Transition Programs with the opportunity to learn valuable skills dealing with plant growth and proper nutrition. It will also supply vocational skills which include basic home econom-
GIVING THE GIFT OF READING LIT LEAGUE, A SUBSCRIPTION BOX FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS, AIMS TO MAKE READING FUN. BY DEBBIE LEE THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
When they were young girls growing up in Lake Forest, Cecelia Gottman would tease Lauren Fairchild for burying her nose in books. “As a kid, I wasn’t as interested in it,” Gottman confesses. She preferred more active pursuits. “I would jokingly make fun of her for reading all the time—I was more into things like spying,” she says with a laugh. But the two maintained a lifelong friendship. And true to form, Fairchild, 42, went on to teach high school English before accepting her current post as a sixth-to-eighth grade reading and language arts teacher at the School of St. Mary in Lake Forest. Meanwhile, Gottman, 43, applied her high-energy personality to the world of dot-coms before becoming a strategic planner for industrial supply company Grainger. Now they’ve come full circle. Combining Fairchild’s love of books with Gottman’s penchant for play, they’ve co-founded Lit League— a start-up that aims to make child literacy fun. Monthly subscription boxes combine a carefully selected children’s book with an assortment of related activities to engage young readers long after they’ve turned the last page. While the business officially launched last February, its seeds were planted years earlier, when Fairchild was teaching in Santa Monica, California. “I had some high-achieving students who loved to read, and then there were those who
Sibling activity kits and discussion guides encourage readers to have interactive playdates. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF HEIDI CLIFTON OF CECILY GEORGE PHOTOGRAPHY
just weren’t into it,” says Fairchild. “So when “That’s when we knew it was something we I had my own children, I dug a little deeper wanted to share with other people.” and started asking kids what their parents were Boxes are designed by age group: 3 to 5 and doing at home to make readers.” In 2014, she 5 to 9, with packages for readers up to 12 years returned to Lake Bluff and began a book club Continued on PG 10 with Gottman for their own kindergarteners.
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