The Daily Herald from Chicago, Illinois • Page 253

DailyHemld Wednesday, August 27,1997 LISLE NAPERVILLE SECTION Classical guitarist hopes to find mche in Na Musician charts course to share his passion BY RAY MINOR Daily Herald Staff Writer Watching Goran Ivanovic play the guitar is like watching someone lost in a dream. His fingers dance quickly over the strings, playing not some bombastic rock 'n' roll, but the subtle and soothing notes of classical guitar. The young man, who recently moved to Naperville from Europe, closes his eyes while his fingers glide. His head dips, close to the guitar neck, almost close enough to lass the notes floating out of the polished wood. "It's something very special," Ivanovic said.

"Every person has a way to express themselves, by telling a joke or by writing. A guitar is how I express myself. It's completely another world. It's huge and very colorful, like somebody opening a door." Now, he hopes to spread the world of classical guitar across He's starting in Naperville and Chicago. "Guitar is a very young instrument; no one has discovered everything you can do with it," he said.

"That inspires me. It means I have much left to learn." A young man of 20, Ivanovic always remembers having a guitar around. In his native Osjjek, Croatia, his father, Slobodan, was a respected luthier a craftsman specializing in acoustic jazz and electric guitars. At least one guitar was sitting in some corner of his family's home or under his father's watchful eyes. So it seemed natural that Goran found a guitar in his hands while growing up.

When he was just 6, he would strum silly tunes on the instrument. But when he turned 10, guitars become something more than just a passing childhood diversion. "I'm not sure, why it happened," he said. "Just the instrument inspires me. The music is soft and it's very quiet.

It can speak to you if you listen." In 1990, war broke out in Yugoslavia. Afraid for their lives, the Ivanovics packed everything and moved to Salzburg, Austria, where Goran enrolled at the Mozarteum University. While there, he learned to play classical guitar from some or the most renowned players in the world such as Eliot Fisk. He also has won local competitions in Austria, Greece and Spain. His parents and brother moved See GUITAR on Page3 District 203 events School starts today for students in District 203.

Registration make-up also is available at Naperville North High School today. Church open house The Parent and Child Nurturing Center at Grace Lutheran Church in Aurora will offer an open house 1roni 10 to 11:30 a.m. and from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the church, 250 Cedar St. Call (630) 895-4215.

Preschool storytime Parents may call the Aurora Public Library beginning today to register children for preschool storytimes at the main library. 'Storytimes begin the week of Sept. 8 and continue through Oct. 21 at the library, 1 E. Benton Aurora.

Storytimes for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds are at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Mondays and 10:45 a.m. on Tuesdays. Storytimes olds are at 9:30 a.m.

on Tuesdays. The 2 1 2 -year-olds must be accompanied by ariadult. Call (630) Choral auditions The Chamber Singers, a 20-voice student choral ensemble at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, will hold auditions for new members by appointment today and Tuesday. For an audition, call (630) 942-3008. Naperville newcomer Goran Ivanovic plays the classical guitar at a recent concert on the Riverwalfc'After studying and playing across Europe, he moved to the United States this summer.

His instrument is a handmade guitar from Spain. Daily Horald Bright Mandatory fees take a toll on families in Dist. 203 As many families have experienced, free public education makes quite a dent in the family finances this time of year. Feel like it's a biggsr dent than usual in Naperville Unit District 203? It is. The fees are at a modern- day high.

Since 1991, mandatory fees have almost tripled for each level of assessment. In 1991, it cost $15.25 for a child to register for kindergarten. In 1997, the family of a Mn- dergartner pays $42.50. Mandatory fees for an elementary student in grades one through five went from $32.50 in Raleigh McCartney 1991 to $91 in 1997. For the elementary student who takes band, add another $50.

Band instruction previously was viewed as part of the curriculum instead of a fee activity. The costs have jumped similarly for junior high and high school students. With the latter, it becomes mega fees with the additional per- course fees and the plethora of optional fees. How does this jive with the Illinois Constitution that says "education in public schools through the secondary level shall be Most of these fees would easily pass muster, according to Illinois courts, because "free" is so narrowly construed. In other states, such as Michigan or Idaho, "free public education" means no charge for that which is determined necessary for education.

In Illinois, with its infinite wisdom regarding children's rights, the courts have determined that what must be "free" is that which was intended when the state constitution was drafted more than a century ago. When challenged by families with children, in case after case, that which must.be provided free does not extend beyond a school building and teachers' salaries. Band fees, which subcommittees have recommended to cover salary costs, pass muster under the historically provided test, but-they are suspect under the teacher salary prohibition. No matter. In the University of Illinois Law Review article "Public See CHALK TALK on Page 3 Last Fling The Naperville Jaycees' Last Fling begins Friday and continues through Sept.

1 along the downtown Riverwalk. The Main Stage is at the sled hill along the Riverwalk. The Entertainment Stage is on Jackson Avenue one block west of Main Street. Kid- dieland is just west of Centennial Beach. Admission to the festival is free.

For information, call (630) 961-4143. FRIDAY 6 p.m. The Rockaholics Main. Stage 6 p.m. Twice Removed (Blues) Entertainment Stage 8 p.m.

Big Daddy Kinsey and The Kinsey Report Main Stage 8 p.m. Rico (Salsa Rock) Entertainment Stage SATURDAY 9 a.m. Big Wheel Race West Riverwalk Parking Lot 10 a.m. Senior Citizens Bingo Beer Garden Tent 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Kiddieland 1-3 p.m.

Hit Sync Contest Beer Garden Tent 2 p.m. Jubilee Songbirds Main Stage 2 p.m. Jimmy's Bavarians (German Oompah) Entertainment Stage 3-5 p.m. Talent Contest Beer Garden Tent 4 p.m. Mistaken Identity Main Stage 4 p.m.

Jokester (70s-'90s Rock) Entertainment Stage 6 p.m. Naked Main Stage 6 p.m. Junk Nation (Alternative Band) Entertainment Stage 8 p.m. Randy Bachman Main Stage 8 p.m. Waterhouse (Reggae Band) Entertainment Stage SUNDAY 10 a.m.

Four-legged Follies Next to Kiddieland 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Kiddieland 1 p.m. Diaper Derby Kiddieland 1 p.m. Spaghetti-Eating Contest Beer Garden Tent 2 p.m. Apple Pie Bake-off Beer Garden Tent 2 p.m.

The Deadbeats Main Stage 2 p.m. Irish Mist (Irish Folk Music) Entertainment Stage 3:30 p.m. Great Shootout Naper School 4 p.m. Rewired Main Stage 4 p.m. Comet Country (Country? Entertainment Stage 6 p.m.

Little Country Main Stage 6 p.m. Bluefish (Blues) Entertainment Stage 8 p.m. Toby Keith Main Stage 8 p.m. The Drovers Entertainment Stage MONDAY Noon The Dancing Noodles Main Stage Noon-3 p.m. Kiddieland Noon-6 p.m.

Open Karaoke Beer Garden Tent 2 p.m. The Buzz Main Stage 2 p.m. Bopology (Jazz) Entertainment Stage 4 p.m. Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels Main Stage 4 p.m. The Fabulous Janes Entertainment Stage Thoughts of new school year dont end with a degree BY KARI ALLEN Daily Herald Stag Writer For as long as I can remember, the month of August has evoked a sense of panic in me: It meant the end.

The end of summer, the last remnants of time to myself slipping through my fingers. You see, I've been in school for the past 20 I started off in kindergarten, like everyone else, made my way through elementary, middle and high school. I went to college for four years, where, for some reason, I chose secondary education as one of my majors (most likely because I envisioned a sole English major leading me to Europe, to live the life of an impoverished poet). My senior year at Augustana College, I was a student-teacher at Rock Island High School. I loved it.

I have the feeling that anything else I say about that experience will sound overdra- matic, as I have a tendency to romanticize past things, making them seem even better than they were. I push the bad experiences out of mind and wallow the nostalgia of the good. So, before I get any more dramatic, let's just say I loved student teaching. After college, I went on to teach at a parochial high school on the South Side of Chicago. I didn't love it.

Nothing in my education taught me how to deal with groups of kids who just didn't care about school, themselves, each other or life in general. I didn't cope well. There were a handful of wonderful students whose images and per. sonalities I tried cling to, telling myself to stick with it for them. But, as a first-year teacher who ended up with five large English classes, each one containing a number of students who could go over the edge at any time, I knew one year was them and for me.

The next year, taught at an alternative high school in Kari Allen Elgin. I liked many of the Mds there, as I had at the parochial school. But I didn't share many of the educational philosophies upheld by our school admimstra 1 tors, and didn't feel right staying, there. A friend of mine told me about an opening in the newsroom of toe Daily Herald. So, I decided to go back to my first love: writing.

And here I am. I am a Community News Coordinator for Naperville and Lisle, and I love my job. Before this, I'd never experienced looking forward to going to work in the morning; now I do. But now it's August, and old habits are hard to break. I feel I should be preparing for a new school year, whether as a student or teacher.

I feel I should be packing up dishes and clothes. In the past six years I always moved to a different town in August, from Rock Island to Elmhurst. Sometimes I awake in the middle of the night with a start, afraid I don't have my lesson plans set for the next day, that I haven't read the material I assigned to my students. And then I remember. That way of life is not mine anymore.

As much as I know teaching is not for me, I miss it sometimes. Even though I know, and probably always have, that writing suits me well and I love it, I still wonder. I wonder how my past students are doing. I wonder if they remember anything I taught them. I wonder if they'll be OK.

Sometimes, when I'm watching the 6 p.m. news, I'm afraid the image of a previous student will See TEACHER on Page 2 1.