October 30, 2006

The story below was written by a second
grade Oak Park Elementary Student.

Senator Harmon
Saves Friend from a Bully, Makes History

When Don Harmon was a boy and helped save a friend from a bully
he never knew it would make history.  Perhaps this is what makes
him the kind of person we want representing us in Springfield.

The making history part of the story came about when a second grade teacher gave her students a writing assignment.  The assignment was to interview someone who had lived in Oak Park a long time and to
find out something about Oak Park.  It is part of a Language Arts unit call Sharing Stories and the assignment was inspired by a book on the Amana Colonies called Village Voices. 

Here is the story Julia wrote after interviewing Steve Scheuring:

Steve Scheuring has lived in Oak Park such a long time that he can’t go anywhere without knowing someone.  He has two brothers, Mike and Kevin, and one sister, Kate.  He loved watching M.A. S. H.,
the Brady Bunch and Speed Racer.

Mr. Scheuring’s best friend, Don Harmon, now a state senator, saved him from a bully.  He was also a mail man and a standard poodle bit him.  It was really big.  Mr. Scheuring’s job now is selling homes for people to live in.  He is a fourth generation Oak Parker.  That means he and his parents and his grandmother and his grandfather and his great grandparents all lived in Oak Park.