2 locals in running for Teacher of the Year

A reading specialist in Carol Stream and a fourth-grade teacher in Villa Park are among nine educators statewide up for Illinois Teacher of the Year.

Michelle Lia of Western Trails Elementary School in Carol Stream followed her passion for literacy, leaving the classroom full-time to focus on reading. Since then, the school's reading scores have skyrocketed.

And if there's a classroom project that's off the charts creatively at Ardmore Elementary School in Villa Park, there's a good chance fourth-grade teacher Carol Nowaczyk is involved.

When it comes to getting students enthused about learning, both are the cream of the crop.

The Illinois State Board of Education will announce the statewide winner in October. Other finalists, culled from 175 nominees, hail from Mount Vernon, Wood River, Champaign, Litchfield, Ottawa, Cicero and Freeport.

Ardmore Principal Michele Cummins said Nowaczyk's brain never stops trying to figure out ways to make lessons more creative - and fun - for her students.

Take Valentine's Day for example, she said.

While other classrooms and students were creating Valentine's Day boxes as presents, Nowaczyk had her students create boxes in the shape of haystacks, or barns, or lighthouses. They then placed them all over the floor ­- which they'd converted into a giant map of the United States.

It became a geography lesson.

"And that is normal for Carol," Cummins said.

Seconds later, another example came to mind.

The school needed a 14-minute video explaining its new positive behavior reinforcement program. Cummins tapped Nowaczyk, who in turn tapped all of the school's students. They did wacky things, including acting out a mock Family Feud game to exemplify good bathroom behaviors.

When they showed the video, the whole school was laughing, she said.

Ever modest, though, Nowaczyk said she actually forgot she'd been nominated.

The 21-year teacher was asked by a friend if she'd heard from the state. Her response: "About what?"

Working with fourth-grade students is an adventure because they are on the cusp of becoming critical thinkers, she said. "It's a state in life where they're beginning to think," Nowaczyk said.

Lia similarly started in a fourth-grade classroom. But she was irresistibly drawn to literacy. After getting her master's degree as a literary specialist six years ago, she became the reading specialist at Western Trails Elementary School in Carol Stream.

At the time, about 65 percent of the students who took the state standards test met learning expectations. Since she's worked with both students and teachers, that number's skyrocketed to more than 90 percent of students, Principal Jim Doyle said.

"Probably one of the things I really enjoy about her is that nothing really stops her," Doyle said. "She goes above and beyond."

One of her students wrote a letter recommending Lia for the award.

"She taught me I can be a good reader anywhere," the student wrote. "She taught me never give up and never stop trying. She makes reading fun for me."

Perhaps that's because, as Doyle said, "she gets to know all of her students."

"The rapport she has with them," he said, "is amazing."