Members of the New Trier Township High School Board could not resist seeing off Linda Yonke, who attended her final board meeting as superintendent June 5, with a gentle joke.
“We all know you have an unnatural fascination with and affinity for terrazzo (flooring material),” board president Greg Robitaille told Yonke, as he presented her with an artist’s rendering of the new addition to the Winnetka campus over whose construction Yonke has presided since it began in 2015 – surrounded within its frame by heavy terrazzo tile.
During a break in the meeting Yonke, who told Robitaille the gift was “perfect,” said it referred to her fight to maintain high quality terrazzo flooring in the new addition. Cost-generated redesigns of the addition meant that it now has less expensive types of flooring, with the exception of one area, she said.
“We ended up with very good porcelain tile in other areas and I’m satisfied with that,” she joked.
Board members, who honored Yonke’s more than 13 years with New Trier with a May 31 reception, spared time at their June meeting for one last round of kudos.
Board member Cathleen Albrecht said Yonke built a sense of trust among the board, administrators and the New Trier community, and board member Lori Goldstein thanked her for being “a collaborative partner” with the board: “Above all, thank you for being a friend and for being a mensch.”
Board member Carol Ducommun said Yonke “makes people want to step up and do their part.” Board member Patrick O’Donoghue told her that while the two might have differed on some issues, “we’ve done it in the nicest possible way. I’ll miss you.”
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