This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Lawyer Joins District 113 Study Group to Help Prioritize High Schools' Needs

Deerfield dad Bob Goldman volunteers to analyze facility-technology plan.

Deerfield resident Bob Goldman is a partner at a large international law firm.  He plans on retiring later this year, “It’s been a very rewarding career,” he said about his profession as a lawyer.  He is heavily involved in Chicagoland Habitat for Humanity, an umbrella organization established to assist the eight Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the Chicagoland area.  After his retirement, he plans to spend even more time volunteering for Chicagoland Habitat and other organizations.

Goldman started donating his services to District 113 back in May when school administrators called on residents to assess the high school’s facility-technology plan.

Goldman currently has one daughter at Deerfield High School and another in college. Both daughters were on the DHS track team. “Volunteering for one of the study groups provided me with a good opportunity to add whatever I could to the discussion,” he said.

Find out what's happening in Deerfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Goldman and hundreds of other volunteers were divided into six study groups of a market research, teaching and learning, PE/athletics/1914/DHS field, finance, building systems, and leadership team. He was placed in the study group that analyzed the high schools’ athletic facilities and Highland Park’s 1914 buildings.

Goldman noted that this process has been quite eye-opening. “I didn’t know the dire need at Highland Park High School,” he said. “The 1914 buildings at Highland Park High School in their current state are clearly inadequate and the issues need to be addressed as soon as possible.”

Find out what's happening in Deerfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The 1914 building/athletic facilities group has met about a dozen times to study the current state of the facilities and construct a list of needs. Volunteers have toured both DHS and HPHS multiple times, visited neighboring high schools, listened to engineers and other experts explain the infrastructure, and met with the expert hired by the District to study both the Deerfield and Highland Park pools. Goldman mentioned that it has been extremely helpful to have competent architects and builders on the team, “It gives those of us who aren’t in that business a lot of understanding,” he said. The 1914 building/athletic facilities group is currently prioritizing the list of needs.

Goldman is looking forward to see how the leadership team implements the study groups’ suggestions. “We need a carefully thought out plan that meets the communities’ needs,” he said. “I certainly hope that bringing in folks like me who weren’t part of the process has been very helpful.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?