Civic leaders from Lake County, in general, and North Chicago, in particular, gathered last weekend to help raise funds for Partners in Progress, a not-for-profit North Chicago educational foundation. The reception was held at the Port O` Call restaurant at Great Lakes Naval Base. Half of each $20 ticket went to support Partners programs.
The guest of honor was Rep. John Matijevich (D-North Chicago). Matijevich, who is marking a quarter of a century in the Illinois General Assembly, has received numerous awards from educational organizations for his support.
Among those present was former Waukegan High School teacher Stanley Tomkovick, now president of Partners in Progress. A pilot with the Flying Tigers squadron, Tomkovick noted that he was still in uniform when he began teaching at Waukegan in 1944, which, coincidentally, was Matijevich`s senior year there. The event was designed to be bipartisan and included Democrats, such as County Board member Bertha Ogrin (D-Waukegan), and Republicans, most prominently Lake County State`s Atty. Mike Waller.
”The most important issues are always bipartisan issues,” Waller noted diplomatically. Partners in Progress got its start in 1986 as an effort by then-Supt. Charles Thomas, now retired, to get local businesses involved in the community`s educational system. This year, 33 mini-grants totaling $8,000 have been awarded by the group to finance field trips and other educational programs that the district might otherwise have been unable to afford.
One of the early supporters of the effort, and its financial architect, was Doug Keyt of the Northern Trust in Lake Forest. ”Basically, the Northern Trust challenged them by saying we would contribute $1 for every $2 they raised elsewhere. As of last August, we had contributed $5,100,” Keyt said. Keyt`s ambitious goal for Partners in Progress is to establish a $187,000 endowment, a number picked to correspond with District 187. ”My philosophy is, make no small plans,” Keyt explained.