McHenry County Blog

The Crystal Lake High School District 155 Prairie Ridge High School wrestling controversy sparked my interest in the locker room instructions for coaches.

Here is what District 155 sent me:

“Coaches are responsible to supervise their athletes until each student has been picked up by a parent or have safely left the campus.

“Coaches are responsible for the behavior of their student athletes while they are in the locker room, training room, off campus and on bus trips.

“Coaches must lock the locker room when they leave for practice and then must unlock the door at the end of practice and supervise the students until they have all left the room.”

An October 28, 2009, “Handout” with “Reminders” says this under

“Supervision:”

“Please take the time to talk with your staff re: supervision of the athletes at all times, i.e. bus, opponents locker rooms, our facilities. Make sure that they understand they are responsible for these students until they get picked up…”

Also of possible interest is the following regarding the “Privacy Act:”

“Please have a discussion with your staff about the privacy act. We can not talk about the athletes grades, health issues, training rule violations, suspensions etc with anyone.

Huntley High School

Huntley School District 158 sent me this information from a February 10, 2010 memo from Bruce Blummer, the Huntley Athletic Director:

“Supervision

“The single most likely aspect of a coach’s job that can lead to problems, and possible litigation, is supervision (or lack thereof). A coach employed by District 158 is responsible for supervising his/her student-athletes.

“Please be aware of the following thoughts:

“Supervise student-athletes before, during and after practices/games.

“Supervise student-athletes in the locker room.

“Be cognizant of activities and/or conditions that can lead to accidents.

“Do not allow students to use facilities unless under the direct supervision of certified personnel.

“Do not allow students to use facilities unless under the direct supervision of certified personnel.

“Do not leave student athletes unattended in the building…”

Here are the District 300 rules:

“Coaches are responsible for supervising their teams/programs before, during and after practices/games. Practice does not begin until the coach arrives. He/she should not leave until all athletes have left school property.”

“Coaches must be aware of the health and well being of each student…”

Happened on a reprint of the Friday story about the wrestling hazing investigation at Prairie Ridge High School by the Crystal Lake Police Department.

It’s on the NW Herald’s sports spin-off McHenryCountySports.com.

While it is little more than the police report McHenry County Blog ran here it does have one comment under the story.

When I wrote this story, I read this above the comment:

“There are 2 hours, 9 minutes remaining to comment on this story.”

WMAQ-TV ran shots of Prairie Grove High School in its Thursday night story about the Crystal Lake Police Department probe of hazing on the wrestling team.

“The actions which have been found objectionable by the Prairie Ridge and District 155 Administration have been going on in high school athletics for decades,” said Crystal Lake lawyer and former District 155 School Board President Jim Bishop. ‘Different generations have called the actions by different names, “noogies,” “grundies,” “wedgies,” “grab ass,” “hot nuts” and now it’s called a “shooter.”

“This not limited to boys.”

“It’s absolutely harmless. It’s kids being kids.”

“The school administration and police department are out of control.

“It’s outrageous that it is even alluded to be ‘sexual molestation,’” he continues.

Under its new comment—or should I say, “No comment—policy, my understanding is that folks can no longer tell what they know or speculate about the potential crimes committed at Prairie Ridge High School on and by those on the wrestling team under the relevant Northwest Herald story.

Some folks who seem to know something have found one of the three stories published by McHenry County Blog and left the following comments here:

First person:

“This happened on the coaching staffs watch, are they not accountable?“

Second person:

“GWC you are right . . . staff should be held accountable.“

Third person:

“From what I understand the coaches are not suppose to be in the locker rooms. “

Fourth person:

“you have no clue what happened its just a tradition none of the wrstlers care.”

Fifth person:

“This is much ado about nothing.  I went to high school in the early ‘80’s and guys punched each other in the nuts all the time, especially if you were on an athletic team.  Pink bellies (the other ‘atrocity’ mentioned) have been going on since Abe Lincoln was chopping wood as a kid.  To label it as criminal is comical.

“The overreaction by the media and the previous poster is the typical reaction of the melodramatic society that we’ve become.”

The articles in question are

District 155 Issues Letter about Prairie Ridge Wrestling Hazing

Additional Statement from High School District 155 Wrestling Hazing and Intimidation

Prairie Ridge Wrestling Hazing May Have Included Sexual Molestation

WMAQ-TV ran pictures of Crystal Lake Police Cars at City Hall in its Thursday night story about the proble of Prairie Ridge High School's wrestling hazing.

Reading between the lines of the following press release from the Crystal Lake Police Department, but not too much, led me to the use of the words “sexual molestation” in the headline. See if you agree.

On Thursday, January 28, 2010 the Crystal Lake Police Department was notified by Prairie Ridge High School Staff, regarding their investigation of an anonymous report of possible hazing involving a number of students who are members of the school’s wrestling team.

School District Officials related that they had received an anonymous letter alleging a wrestler was held down by other wrestlers, who then slapped him numerous times on his stomach causing minor injury.

Prairie Ridge School staff, acting on information received in this anonymous letter, conducted their own preliminary investigation to determine the validity of the allegations.

Upon learning through their investigation that certain acts suggested that students engaged in activities that may include criminal conduct, Police were notified.

Since notification, the Crystal Lake Police Department Investigations Division has been conducting interviews at the school to determine the extent of any possible criminal activity.

Crystal Lake Investigators have interviewed over 60 of the student wrestlers which make up the Prairie Ridge wrestling team.

Investigators are also in the process of conducting formal interviews with the teams coaching staff.

The investigation has revealed that a number of wrestlers may have been involved in activities that include the restraining of wrestlers by other members of the team who then slap them on the stomach.

Additionally, police are investigating alleged actions on the part of some members of the wrestling team that may have included certain parts of the restrained wrestlers’ private areas being touched through their clothing.

This investigation continues and the police department has consulted the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office who will review the entire investigation upon its completion. No charges have been filed as of this time.

For further information, contact Chief David Linder at 815-356-3714.

I asked Chief Linder if juveniles are put on the lifetime sex offender list. They are not unless found guilty as an adult.

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See also the letter posted on the Prairie Ridge High School web site this morning and the press release issued later.

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March 6, 2010, update on arrests.

Just to keep you up to date on Crystal Lake High School District’s public response to the wrestling team hazing reported this morning, here is the latest statement.

STATEMENT REGARDING ALLEGED HAZING AND INTIMIDATION AT PRAIRIE RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL

School and Crystal Lake Police Department Investigations Continues

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill., February 4, 2010 — Prairie Ridge High School administration recently received an anonymous tip regarding allegations of hazing and intimidation by members of the wrestling team.

To protect student safety, administration and coaches took direct action to ensure that any such conduct immediately ceased and also ensured that those affected had access to appropriate support mechanisms.

The school administration began a thorough investigation of these allegations which is still continuing.

The Crystal Lake Police Department is conducting an independent investigation and the school district is fully cooperating in the inquiry.

District 155 is committed to the safety of all of our students, whether in the classroom or in any extracurricular activity. The district has and will take proper disciplinary and other corrective action as appropriate to the facts and as provided for in Board of Education Policy and procedure.

As a matter of both federal and state law, and recognizing the privacy rights of all involved, the district cannot and will not comment on individual student disciplinary matters. The district can state, however, that intimidation and hazing are not tolerated. This situation has provided an opportunity to review our policies and practices in a manner that assures our students are able to participate in athletics in a climate that is positive and safe. We are committed absolutely to providing the students of this school district with a learning environment free from intimidation or hazing whether during the regular school day or at any extracurricular activity.

About Community High School District 155:
Community High School District 155 is comprised of four high schools including Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South, and Prairie Ridge, and an alternative education center, Haber Oaks. The district serves more than 7,000 students from several cities including Cary, Crystal Lake, Fox River Grove, and Prairie Grove. Nearly 90% of its class of 2009 continued their education beyond high school. For each of the past six years, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has recognized District 155 with its highest financial rating.

District 155’s Mission:
For each student, we will inspire a love for learning, empower the pursuit of personal aspirations, and nurture a desire to contribute to the world.

For more information: www.d155.org

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Also of possible interest, the Crystal Lake Police Department’s press release on its investigation.

Somehow WMAQ-TV broke the story of a wresting hazing investigation at Crystal Lake's Prairie Ridge High School on Wednesday and updated it with precious new information on Thursday night at its ten o'clock broadcast.

Dated today, the following letter has been posted on the District 155 web site about the WMAQ-TV’s Ten O’Clock hazing story:

February 4, 2010

Dear Prairie Ridge Community:

We would like to share information pertaining to recent events surrounding the Prairie Ridge High School wrestling team and subsequent actions taken on behalf of our students.

On Thursday, our principal Mr. Paul Humpa, became aware of alleged incidents of hazing and intimidation occurring within the wrestling program. Both actions, of course, are prohibited by board policy (Board of Education Policy No. 4375 and 4380; visit www.d155.org/boardpolicies.htm to view the policy).

Accordingly, Mr. Humpa and his team immediately took steps to ensure that these activities were not continuing, and began a thorough investigation.

Since potential criminal acts were involved, the Crystal Lake Police Department joined our investigation. Both school and police investigations are currently ongoing.

No arrests have been made at this time.

The district’s administration will take appropriate disciplinary action against students who violated either the intimidation or hazing policy or any other district policies governing student conduct.

Under the guidelines mandated by the Illinois Student Records Act, we will treat all matters concerning student discipline privately. All students and parents have the right to have their child’s privacy protected.

Please be assured that our administration and the Crystal Lake Police Department are fully investigating every aspect of our students’ well-being and safety. Again, be assured that our actions and decisions will be based on facts resulting from this investigation.

While the disposition of any pending disciplinary matter must and shall remain confidential, please understand the administration’s position regarding hazing and intimidation. We will not tolerate behaviors that clearly violate our policy guidelines.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jill Hawk
Superintendent

Most local candidates think campaigning time is over the Sunday before the election.

It’s not over, of course, until the polls close at 7 PM.

Zane Seipler, candidate for McHenry County Sheriff, greets Lakewood's Jane Rule before she votes at the Crystal Lake Park District's Main Beach House. Next to Rule is Eileen Marhoeffer, a pillar in the Seipler campaign.

Today, standing out in front of my Crystal Lake Park District Main Beach polling place was McHenry County Sheriff’s candidate Zane Seipler.

With so few people voting, that may not have been a good use of his time, but at least those coming through the gate were pretty sure to be people on the way to vote.

Pre-school kids play soccer in Crystal Lake's Main Beach House where voters from the precinct north and south of the lake regularly voted until the park board banished them to a back room.

Of course, they could have been on the way to pre-school soccer in the room where I dearly wish the Park Board would allow the polling place to be located.

I just can’t understand how elected officials can think that a handful of kids playing soccer is more important than an election.

Where voters are forced to vote if they live north or south of Crystal Lake in Algonquin Township.

Above is the backroom into which voters must go. It does not show that the park board members value the democratic process, does it?

Algonquin Precinct 19 voters line up to cast their ballots in the cramped room where the Crystal Lake Park Board allows two polling places to operate.

While you see the room virtually empty, there were voters lined up at one point to cast their ballots in the cramped facility.

A snowy Meridian Street (Gate 12) on Election Day.

Turnout was low, which would be expected on a snowy day picked deliberately by the Chicago Democrats who set the date in order to keep voter turnout low so Establishment candidates (mainly incumbents) would have the best chance of winning.

Prairie Ridge High School student Taylor Humm is the election judge handling electronic voting. At 10:30 she had only processed five ballots. Four were Republican and one was for a Democrat.

Handling the electronic voting in Algonquin 7 was Prairie Ridge High School student Taylor Humm.

One final word.

Park District employees remove signs about 10 AM from the Main Beach parking lot.

For those candidates who noticed their signs are missing from the Main Beach, above you can see where they went.  Frankly, I do not understand why such signs are not allowed on election day.  I got so angry the first time my candidates’ signs were removed I went to court and got an injunction entered preventing the district’s employees from removing them.  The district does have an ordinance preventing such political signs.

The following press release has been received from the office of 16th District Congressman Don Manzullo:

Prairie Ridge High School Student Appointed to U.S. Air Force Academy

[CRYSTAL LAKE] Congressman Don Manzullo (R-Egan) today announced that Kristen Suhrhoff of Crystal Lake, Illinois, has received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, CO.

Kristen will graduate in June 2009 from Prairie Ridge High School. At Prairie Ridge, Kristen is a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, and student council. She also volunteers with her church and the local food pantry.

Kristen also is captain of the Girls’ Cross Country Team and played soccer and basketball and ran indoor track at Prairie Ridge. Kristen is the daughter of Thomas and Dorothy Suhrhoff of Crystal Lake.

Crystal Lake’s Prairie Ridge High School graduate and Field
Museum and University of Chicago grad student Nathan Smith has discovered another creature from the time of the dinosaurs.

Smith named this one Glacialisaurus hammeri, after his old professor William Hammer, who taught Smith at Rock Island’s Augustana College and led the trip to the icy continent.

This is the second time Smith has received worldwide recognition.

The first, announced last July in Science, was for discovering a “pre-dinosaur” in New Mexico he called Dromomeron romeri.

Published in this quarter’s Acta Palaeontologica Polonica in an article by Smith and Diego Pol, this Early Jursiac dinosaur is only the second from that age discovered in Antarctica, according to the Field Museum press release.

The press release says,

“A new genus and species dinosaur from the Early Jurassic has been discovered in Antarctica. The massive plant-eating primitive sauropodomorph is called Glacialisaurus hammeri and lived about 190 million years ago.

”The recently published description of the new dinosaur is based on partial foot, leg and ankle bones found on Mt. Kirkpatrick near the Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica at an elevation of more than 13,000 feet.

“’The fossils were painstakingly removed from the ice and rock using jackhammers, rock saws and chisels under extremely difficult conditions over the course of two field seasons,’ said Nathan Smith, a graduate student at The Field Museum. ‘They are important because they help to establish that primitive sauropodomorph dinosaurs were more broadly distributed than previously thought, and that they coexisted with their cousins, the true sauropods.’

Continuing, the release reports,

“Sauropodomorph dinosaurs were the largest animals to ever walk the earth. They were long-necked herbivores and include Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. Their sister group is the theropods, which include Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, and modern birds.

”Glacialisaurus hammeri was about 20-25 feet long and weighed about 4-6 tons. It was named after Dr. William Hammer, a professor at Augustana College who led the two field trips to Antarctica that uncovered the fossils. Glacialisaurus belongs to the sauropodomorph family Massopsondylidae, which may represent a secondary radiation of basal sauropodomorphs during the Early Jurassic.

”Currently, the development and evolutionary relationships of the sauropodomorph dinosaurs are hotly debated by paleontologists. This discovery, however, helps to resolve some of this debate by establishing two things. First, it shows that sauropodomorphs were widely distributed in the Early Jurassic—not only in China, South Africa, South America and North America, but also in Antarctica.

“’This was probably due to the fact that major connections between the continents still existed at that time, and because climates were more equitable across latitudes than they are today,’” Smith said.

”Second, the discovery of Glacialisaurus hammeri shows that primitive sauropodomorphs probably coexisted with true sauropods for an extended period of time. The recent discovery of a possible sauropod at roughly the same location in Antarctica lends additional evidence to the theory that the earliest sauropods coexisted with their basal sauropodomorph cousins, including Glacialisaurus hammeri, during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, Smith and Pol conclude in their research findings.”

Smith’s co-author Pol is from the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio in Chubut, Argentina.

And the really important question about how the weather in Antarctica compares to Illinois’?

Asked by Chicago Sun-Times reporter Andrew Herrmann, here’s Professor Hammer’s response:

“…the Antarctic cold as ‘a different kind of cold — it’s real dry.’

“Noting Tuesday’s icy wet weather in Illinois, Hammer said, ‘30 degrees and raining here is more miserable than 25 below and dry there.’”

= = = = =
All images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

In the body of the press release is artist William Stout’s reconstruction of Glacialisaurus hammeri and Antarctica during the Early Jurassic, with several pterosaurs in the background and a small mammal-like reptile in the foreground. The new dinosaur genus and species was described by Nathan Smith, a graduate student at The Field Museum, and Diego Pol, a paleontologist at the Museo Paleontológico in Chubut, Argentina. ©2007 William Stout. Provided by the Field Museum. The Sun-Times rendition was also by artist William Stout. I have replaced its black and white version with the one in color from the Field Museum.

The man in about to attach the hook of the dinosaur block to the helicopter is Peter Braddock.

In the photograph of the three men, Braddock is on the left, Smith in the middle and Kevin Kruger on the right. It appeared on the front page of the Sun-Times. These two pictures came from Discover Channel Canada.

The map and the picture of the bones are from the Field Museum.

Crystal Lake’s Prairie Ridge High School graduate and Field
Museum and University of Chicago grad student Nathan Smith has discovered another creature from the time of the dinosaurs.

Smith named this one Glacialisaurus hammeri, after his old professor William Hammer, who taught Smith at Rock Island’s Augustana College and led the trip to the icy continent.

This is the second time Smith has received worldwide recognition.

The first, announced last July in Science, was for discovering a “pre-dinosaur” in New Mexico he called Dromomeron romeri.

Published in this quarter’s Acta Palaeontologica Polonica in an article by Smith and Diego Pol, this Early Jursiac dinosaur is only the second from that age discovered in Antarctica, according to the Field Museum press release.

The press release says,

“A new genus and species dinosaur from the Early Jurassic has been discovered in Antarctica. The massive plant-eating primitive sauropodomorph is called Glacialisaurus hammeri and lived about 190 million years ago.

”The recently published description of the new dinosaur is based on partial foot, leg and ankle bones found on Mt. Kirkpatrick near the Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica at an elevation of more than 13,000 feet.

“’The fossils were painstakingly removed from the ice and rock using jackhammers, rock saws and chisels under extremely difficult conditions over the course of two field seasons,’ said Nathan Smith, a graduate student at The Field Museum. ‘They are important because they help to establish that primitive sauropodomorph dinosaurs were more broadly distributed than previously thought, and that they coexisted with their cousins, the true sauropods.’

Continuing, the release reports,

“Sauropodomorph dinosaurs were the largest animals to ever walk the earth. They were long-necked herbivores and include Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. Their sister group is the theropods, which include Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, and modern birds.

”Glacialisaurus hammeri was about 20-25 feet long and weighed about 4-6 tons. It was named after Dr. William Hammer, a professor at Augustana College who led the two field trips to Antarctica that uncovered the fossils. Glacialisaurus belongs to the sauropodomorph family Massopsondylidae, which may represent a secondary radiation of basal sauropodomorphs during the Early Jurassic.

”Currently, the development and evolutionary relationships of the sauropodomorph dinosaurs are hotly debated by paleontologists. This discovery, however, helps to resolve some of this debate by establishing two things. First, it shows that sauropodomorphs were widely distributed in the Early Jurassic—not only in China, South Africa, South America and North America, but also in Antarctica.

“’This was probably due to the fact that major connections between the continents still existed at that time, and because climates were more equitable across latitudes than they are today,’” Smith said.

”Second, the discovery of Glacialisaurus hammeri shows that primitive sauropodomorphs probably coexisted with true sauropods for an extended period of time. The recent discovery of a possible sauropod at roughly the same location in Antarctica lends additional evidence to the theory that the earliest sauropods coexisted with their basal sauropodomorph cousins, including Glacialisaurus hammeri, during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, Smith and Pol conclude in their research findings.”

Smith’s co-author Pol is from the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio in Chubut, Argentina.

And the really important question about how the weather in Antarctica compares to Illinois’?

Asked by Chicago Sun-Times reporter Andrew Herrmann, here’s Professor Hammer’s response:

“…the Antarctic cold as ‘a different kind of cold — it’s real dry.’

“Noting Tuesday’s icy wet weather in Illinois, Hammer said, ‘30 degrees and raining here is more miserable than 25 below and dry there.’”

= = = = =
All images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

In the body of the press release is artist William Stout’s reconstruction of Glacialisaurus hammeri and Antarctica during the Early Jurassic, with several pterosaurs in the background and a small mammal-like reptile in the foreground. The new dinosaur genus and species was described by Nathan Smith, a graduate student at The Field Museum, and Diego Pol, a paleontologist at the Museo Paleontológico in Chubut, Argentina. ©2007 William Stout. Provided by the Field Museum. The Sun-Times rendition was also by artist William Stout. I have replaced its black and white version with the one in color from the Field Museum.

The man in about to attach the hook of the dinosaur block to the helicopter is Peter Braddock.

In the photograph of the three men, Braddock is on the left, Smith in the middle and Kevin Kruger on the right. It appeared on the front page of the Sun-Times. These two pictures came from Discover Channel Canada.

The map and the picture of the bones are from the Field Museum.