Olympians make big impact at River Forest’s Lincoln School 

It’s almost never that a United States Olympian visits a school in the Oak Park and River Forest area. 

That changed April 28 when Olympic speedskaters Emery Lehman, who is from Oak Park, and Floridian Mia Manganello stopped by Lincoln Elementary School in River Forest to discuss their careers and experiences. 

Students by and large characterized their feelings about meeting these two American heroes as not only cool and exciting, but surprising. Why? 

“I’ve never met an Olympian before,” said third-grader Flynn, a student in teacher Jane McCole’s room, who orchestrated the duo’s visit since she knows Lehman’s mother. 

But make no mistake. The students were strongly impacted by the 30-minute visit in the school’s auditorium, where Lehman and Manganello dished on how they started in skating and how they improved over time. 

“They told us that to have your dream come true you have to really work hard on it,” said third-grader Logan. 

Added his classmate Saroj: “Mia said she started rollerblading, so you don’t always have to know how you skate before you start speedskating.” 

Lehman, who represented the U.S. at the 2014, 2018, 2022 and most recently the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, won the silver medal in the men’s speedskating Team Pursuit event. He showed photos of himself at his various Olympic stops, injecting humor into his presentation. 

“This is when I left for the Sochi Olympics,” he said of one photo of the 2014 Games. “You guys remember how old I was?” 

A chorus of students shouted, “Seventeen.” 

“Do I look 17 there?” he joked. “Do I still look 17?” 

Laughter followed. 

Here’s another novel student question for Lehman, who started skating as a youth at Ridgeland Common. 

How fast do speedskaters go? 

“The fastest skaters in the world, not necessarily us, but the fastest sprinters, we’re more distance skaters, people that do the short distances, they can go up to 37 miles an hour,” Lehman said. “It’s pretty crazy.” 

And how many different places has he competed? 

“We get to go all these different rinks, so I think I’ve skated at 30 different ovals all over across the world,” he said, adding a long list of locales, including China, Japan, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. 

“Yes, but all pretty cool,” Manganello added. 

She also said that skating is a full-time job for her and Lehman. 

“We train six days of the seven days of the week, and we train twice a day, so anywhere from three hours to eight hours,” she said. “So our teammates really become our great friends and almost like family.” 

Lehman and Manganello’s visit came about because McCole likes to invite guests that help bring to life themes students are studying. 

“In our narrative nonfiction reading unit of Being a Reader, we read books about famous individuals,” McCole said, listing off luminaries like artist Tyrus Wong, fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli and dancer and choreographer Ayodele Casel. 

“Now our students get to meet in real life, hear about what it takes to compete at the Olympic level, not once but four times in Emery’s case, and ask questions of two people who are truly outstanding in their field,” she said. “We have to invite the outside world into our schools.” 

McCole’s students also wondered about what it’s like to be famous and got a surprising response. 

“They kind of said they aren’t actually famous,” Saroj said, “but I don’t really believe that. I thought they were.” 

Roosevelt students choose bald cypress tree to plant 

A new bald cypress tree now graces the parkway on Jackson Avenue next to River Forest’s Roosevelt Middle School thanks to the efforts of the school’s sustainability club. 

Brittany Yelnick, the club faculty sponsor and school social worker, said her nine students in grades five through eight meet once per week at 7:30 a.m.  

The new bald cypress – a hardy, large-scale deciduous conifer – was planted April 27 in conjunction with the River Forest public works and forestry department, who spoke with the students about the village’s tree canopy and the intentional efforts the village takes to sustain it. 

Once the tree was placed in the ground, the students used shovels to fill the area around the tree with dirt. They then added a tall ring of wood chips around the tree before dispensing 20 gallons of water using the village water truck.   

“One of the things that the students wanted to do that would be long lasting was to plant a tree,” Yelnick said. “They have noticed over the years when trees around the school have been taken down. What better time than in the spring around Arbor Day?  And River Forest is a community of trees.” 

The students researched several trees that could be planted in the area that would thrive and be safe for the bird and insect populations here.  They reviewed each of the trees that were possibilities and learned about them, before the club voted on them.    

The bald cypress won the vote. Unlike most evergreens, it is “bald” because it sheds its feathery needles each winter. In spring, bright yellow-green needles grow and mature to a soft sage green. 

The project had a distinct impact on students. 

“I think it is important to make sure that everyone can have an awareness of what they are doing,” said club member Sebastian, an eighth grader. “Even if you don’t particularly care about the environment, I think it is important to have an awareness of what’s going on with our planet and what we do to it.” 

Added fifth grader Hannah: “I learned that there is a lot more involved than I realized in planting the tree correctly to protect it from insects.” 

Roosevelt principal Tina Steketee hopes the students return to visit the tree long after they graduate. 

“The new tree is a great example of the meaningful ways the students in our sustainability club contribute to our school community at Roosevelt,” she said. “I am grateful to them for their leadership in making Roosevelt such a special place to learn and grow.” 

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