OPEF is a 27-year-old nonprofit delivering hands-on STEAM enrichment via six free in-school residency programs. OPEF served over 4,200 D97 students in 2015-16!

Architecture Adventure — Architects design, build and explore the man-made world with 4th/5th graders and middle schoolers.

Art Start — Artists animate the curriculum through visual and performing arts residencies with K-2nd graders.

Geared Up — 3rd-grade students engineer simple machines using specialized LEGOs; also used in the 7th grade science curriculum.

Science Alliance — Working scientists conduct experiments and lead field trips with 4th/5th graders and middle schoolers.

VEX Robotics — Tech experts work with teams of middle schoolers to design, build, program and compete with robots.

Spoken Word — Middle schoolers find and cultivate their unique voices by reading, writing and performing poetry.

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Simple MachinesMr. McDowell's science classes explored simple machines - pulleys, levers, gears - with LEGOs. The students also enjoyed "free build" day, where they got to create their own devices with a combination of the concepts they learned earlier in the week.

VEX RoboticsThe Brooks VEX Robotics teams won several awards at the Battle of the Bots Tournament, including the Excellence Award, Tournament Finalists Award, Programming Skills Winner, and Robot Skills Winner. Participating in numerous competitions throughout the year, the teams also won the Sportsmanship Award at the Illinois Middle School State Championship.

Applied Arts with Little BitsThe 7th graders in Mr. Leban's Applied Arts class created moving sculptures as part of OPEF's Art Start program.

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brooks middle SchoolOPEF experts worked with 651 Brooks Middle School kids in 2015-16. Enjoy a few highlights from the past year!

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BASE CAMPBASE Camp is a fee-based summer and day-off enrichment camp that also helps to support OPEF’s free programs; served 1,945 Oak Park area kids in 2015-16.

Follow Us:

OPEF.org

Close connection with D97, but OPEF receives no tax dollars

All programs are delivered in D97 schools, and D97 teachers help run programs, teach BASE camps, and partner to deliver in-class programs.

Key staff, school board members, D97 parents and community members are on the board.

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The World of ArchitectureMr. Leban’s 8th-grade Applied Arts classes learned about architecture around the world with Adrienne McMullen, Architecture Adventure Coordinator. The students chose a structure they found particularly intriguing, picked a feature on it, and used t-squares and triangles to draw it.

Spoken WordDan "Sully" Sullivan was the poet-in-residence for the newly launched, week-long Spoken Word program at Brooks, in which all 7th graders at had the opportunity to discover their own ability to express themselves in poet-ry. Interested students could also participate in a Spoken Word club, which met before and after school. Both Brooks and Julian Spoken Word club members performed their poems at the season-culminating "Respect the Mic" poetry slam.

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