District 54 receives five Those Who Excel Awards

District 54 is proud to announce the following recipients of the 2016 Illinois State Board of Education's Those Who Excel Awards.

District 54 English Learner Instructional Coaches won an Award of Excellence in the team category.

Lisa Garza, a behavior coach at the Muir Literacy Academy in Hoffman Estates, won an Award of Merit in the student support personnel category.

Magali Williams, a fourth-grade teacher at the Muir Literacy Academy in Hoffman Estates, won an Award of Merit in the classroom teacher category.

Angela Mytych, a parent of students at Frost Junior High School and formerly Collins Elementary School, won an Award of Merit in the volunteer category.

Jillian Sagan, the principal Blackwell School in Schaumburg, won an Award of Recognition in the administrator category.

English Learner Coaches

More than 2,950 students received bilingual services in District 54 and another 1,300 students participate in the Spanish and Japanese dual language programs and Chinese immersion program. The English Learner Coaches in District 54 serve the students and families in these programs, as well as the 76 teachers who support them in a variety of ways.

The team - Sonia Esquivel, Nancy Hellstrom, Rosie Hernandez, Seika Kobari, Kristine Wahlund and Rita Yao - first makes contact with many families at the District 54 Welcome Center. Every student new to the country or with another language spoken in the home is assessed by the team at our Welcome Center. Last year they assessed 1,359 students. They further support families by coordinating Adult ESL classes and working with the Bilingual Parent Advisory Council to plan a yearly Multicultural Event that draws more than 1,300 participants.

The coaches support teachers by providing professional development at schools, modeling lessons, planning with grade-level teams and problem-solving around students who are struggling. This team has also developed curriculum and selected materials in Spanish, Japanese and Chinese so that our dual and immersion programs align with the District 54 English/Language Arts and Social Studies curriculum, as well as developing the curriculum for after-school and summer programs for English Learners.

Lisa Garza

Lisa began her career in District 54 as a special services teacher, working to ensure not only the academic success of students but also their social and emotional well-being. In Lisa's current role as a behavior coach at the John Muir Literacy Academy, she has worked closely not only with students, but with teachers to find the correct support each student needs.

Lisa builds strong relationships with her student's parents/guardians, working collaboratively with families in order to achieve the goal of student success. When working with students, Lisa stays in frequent communication with parents regarding their child's behavioral and academic progress.

Lisa is also a leader amongst her colleagues. Lisa meets individually with teachers to proactively develop strategies to ensure students are successful in the classrooms. Not only does she meet with teachers daily in this informal structure, but she also leads Muir's problem-solving meetings to address identified areas of concern for students and develop manageable solutions for teachers. Her dedication to continual learning for both students and staff has been an immense benefit to the John Muir community.

Magali Williams

Magali, currently a fourth-grade teacher at the John Muir Literacy Academy, is known in the community for her strong relationships with students and their families, as well as her collaborative, supporting relationship with colleagues. She began her career in District 54 as a bilingual resource teacher, working directly with students and their families and supporting other teachers who served bilingual students.

In addition to communicating with students during the school day, Magali frequently reaches out to their parents to share both their academic and behavioral progress. She values the connection with school and home and puts in many hours speaking to and meeting with parents/guardians in order to support her students. All of her interactions are solution-focused and work to build a positive working relationship with the school and home.

Magali also demonstrates leadership in all of her interactions with her colleagues. During her team planning meetings, Magali takes a leadership role in ensuring that the students are exposed to a rigorous curriculum with tightly aligned teaching strategies. She is an expert at guiding conversations to assist teachers in reflecting on their teaching and identifying action steps that can be taken to ensure the success of all students. Magali's priority is all students, not just the students assigned to her classroom. She is often seen meeting with teachers on her own time to guide and coach them on topics such as literacy, classroom management, technology and overall professionalism.

Angela Mytych

The Mytych family started volunteering at Collins Elementary School when the oldest daughter began school in 2005. They held almost every PTA Board position at Collins, including chairing many committees that supported the students. Although the award was presented to Angela, her husband, Jeff, and her mother, Chris Jez, have also been supporting District 54 students for many years.

As their daughters moved on to Frost Junior High School, the Mytych family got involved there as well. Angela served as the Frost PTA president from 2013 through 2015, and Jeff picked up the role during the 2015-2016 school year. In their roles over the past three years, both Jeff and Angela turned around a PTA that was in debt and struggling to gain members to a PTA that now has a surplus of funds and recently had the highest membership gain in School District 54. When the Frost PTA decided to provide hot lunch for our students once a week, Chris volunteered to facilitate the program. She planned the program, worked with vendors and arrived early every Friday to ensure the program runs efficiently. In her free time, she also oversaw picture days at Frost.

As if their service to the PTA wasn't enough, the Mytych family also worked closely with the District 54 Special Olympics program. The entire family has volunteered over the years to work with our students with disabilities in a variety of sports.

Jillian Sagan

Jillian, who is currently the principal at Blackwell Elementary School, was nominated in the spring for her work as the principal at Mead Junior High School. Under Jillian's leadership, the students at Mead excelled academically. Mead was identified as one of the top 20 middle schools in Illinois by the Daily Herald newspaper, with 72% of students meeting or exceeding standards on PARCC in 2015. In the last three years, Mead has continued to meet higher academic targets each year with more than 94% of students meeting our district MAP proficiency goal. This goal states that each school will perform at or above the 90th percentile (top 10% nationally) in meeting individual student growth targets in reading and math.

While celebrating these academic accomplishments, Jillian focused Mead's School Improvement Plan goals on supporting students who required additional supports to reach their full potential. Her professional development sessions targeted differentiation strategies to meet the needs of all students.

While academics are important, Jillian also focuses on the whole student. An example of her ability to bring staff and students together around a common goal was a graduation ceremony she created for a student, who had been battling a terminal illness and was disappointed he would not graduate with his eighth-grade class. Jillian planned a commencement ceremony in mid-March which included the pomp and circumstance, band performances, speeches and other graduation rites of passage.

The Illinois State Board of Education will honor all District 54 representatives during its annual Those Who Excel banquet on Oct. 22 in Normal.