Top volunteers, employees help make District 54 schools successful
What does it take for a professional sports team to make it to the championship game? What makes a particular business a top producer in its industry? What factors are necessary for a school district to have students achieve at high levels? The answer is always the same. It's the people!
For a school district to be successful, it requires exceptional employees and strong partnerships with parents and community volunteers. school District 54 is fortunate to have these necessary ingredients.
We have dedicated staff, committed parents and a supportive community who champion our mission of Ensuring Student Success. This kind of teamwork has contributed to our district's long history of educational excellence.
Last week, Link Elementary School in Elk Grove Village was notified by the United States Department of Education that the school is a 2007 recipient of the No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Award.
Link is one of only 287 schools across the United States to receive this award. It joins five other Blue Ribbon Schools in District 54 which include Armstrong, Collins, Dooley and Stevenson elementary schools and Mead Junior High School.
The No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools program recognizes schools that have made significant progress in closing the achievement gap and whose students achieve at very high levels. Link was nominated by the Illinois State Board of Education because the students achieve in the top 10 percent of all students in Illinois in both reading and mathematics.
Principal Barbara Schremser and sixth-grade teacher Katie Schneider will travel to Washington, D.C., for the official awards ceremony in November. Link will also be one of only several schools that will be featured during the awards ceremony for their innovative teaching practices.
Also this month, six Those Who Excel Awards will be presented by the Illinois State Board of Education to District 54 staff and community members. Renae Kraetsch, a Reading Recovery teacher at Einstein Elementary School, will receive an Award of Excellence in the classroom teacher category. She has also been selected as a finalist for Illinois Teacher of the Year.
She works with students who need additional assistance and has been instrumental in helping to create a book room with leveled reading material to support reading instruction throughout the school.
Dr. Nicholas Myers, principal at Anne Fox Elementary School, is being recognized in the school administrator category for his innovative leadership and the significant gains that have occurred in student achievement during the past several years.
Working with his staff and parent community, Fox School was named the first No Excuses University in Illinois. It is clearly evident that the entire school community believes that every student, without exception, is capable of achieving at a high level.
Doris Reynolds is being honored for her commitment to and exceptional work in educating second-language learners. For the past 13 years, she has worked hard to share her knowledge and expertise in literacy and language acquisition with colleagues and parents alike. Reynolds is responsible for the initial development of our Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools curriculum.
Patti Hlavacek, a special education instructional assistant at Fairview Elementary School, is also being honored as an exemplary employee by the Illinois State Board of Education.
Hlavacek is the heart of the O.T.R.T. (On the Right Track) character education program which has been implemented on a schoolwide basis. She continues to be an integral part of the team that helped develop this unique character education program which promotes caring, respect and responsibility.
Pushpa Khurana is a recipient of the Those Who Excel award in the community volunteer category for her exceptional work as a senior volunteer at John Muir Literacy Academy.
In addition to providing reading support to kindergarten students, Khurana willingly shares her many talents, interests and stories from her native country. She has become a role model and has helped many students to better appreciate and understand cultures other than their own.
The Those Who Excel team category winner goes to District 54's Special Olympics Team. This award is very special because it is being given to the team of staff, parents and volunteers who support our student athletes throughout the year.
This team is more than 100 people strong. They volunteer countless hours and do whatever it takes to help our athletes achieve success both on and off the playing field.
Congratulations to Link Elementary School and to District 54's 2007 Those Who Excel Award recipients. We are extremely pleased and proud that you have been selected to represent what is best about our district at the national and state level.