The makerspace at Oak Park and River Forest High School now bears the name of Andrea Hall, a 1981 graduate who died in a workplace accident three decades ago.
The District 200 Board of Education voted unanimously on Sept. 24 to approve the naming, according to board meeting minutes. Board President Audrey Williams-Lee moved to approve the recognition, seconded by board member Fred Arkin. All seven board members voted in favor.
The 10-year naming rights are valued at $500,000 and come from a $1 million donation made by Stephen and Mary Jo Schuler, Oak Park's Wednesday Journal reported. Mary Jo Schuler is Hall's sister. Stephen Schuler, an OPRF Class of 1980 graduate, is president emeritus of the Imagine Foundation, the fundraising arm supporting campus improvements.
Hall was a standout field hockey player at OPRF, where teammates gave her the nickname "Viking" for her intense and selfless play. After graduating in 1981, she became a union electrician. She was the only female foreman on her team working at Sears Tower when she died in a work-related accident in 1996.
Soon after her death, the Hall family established a scholarship fund in her name for outstanding OPRF field hockey players. The family also donated $15,000 for a new field hockey scoreboard.
The makerspace sits on the second floor of the Student Resource Center. It opened in 2022 as part of the school's Project 1 capital investment, OPRF's first major facility upgrade since the late 1960s, according to a Village of River Forest newsletter. Up to 50 students drop in daily to use 3D printers, laser engravers, sewing machines and other equipment.
OPRF said in a statement that the Schulers' gift honors Hall's memory while supporting students. The school called the makerspace "a hugely popular resource, where our students get to experiment and explore in ways that really benefit their growth and learning."
The Imagine Foundation has been selling naming rights to various OPRF spaces to help fund Project 2, a nearly completed new wing in the southeast corner of the school. The foundation has committed to raising at least $12.5 million for that project. Williams-Lee said at the Sept. 24 board meeting that the foundation planned to host a fundraiser on Oct. 24 to continue raising money for Project 2.
At a Sept. 10 committee meeting, Superintendent Gregory Johnson presented the naming request, describing it as connected to a previously committed donation. He told board members about Hall's career as an electrician and her connection to the Schuler family.
The Wednesday Journal reported that Mary Jo Schuler could not be reached for comment.
