Fremont teachers honored for 30 years of service

Rick Moon and Kathy Reilly must have felt a little bit like rock stars.

Standing on the bed of a pickup truck, the physical education teachers at Fremont Elementary District 79 waved and smiled at more than 2,000 cheering and adoring fans.

Each was honored for their 30-year teaching career during a jumping-jack rally Friday morning in the Mundelein school's parking lot.

Moon, 51 and Reilly, 53, have been teaching physical education at Fremont since 1979. The teachers aren't retiring just yet, but school officials felt the anniversary was worth recognizing.

Middle School teacher Joan Shanahan helped coordinate the event.

"We wanted to recognize Rick and Kathy because they have taught every single child who has attended Fremont in the last 30 years," she said. "Really, that is spectacular."

The highlight of the event was when the entire student body did 30 jumping jacks in honor of each year of service.

"Oh my gosh, I am flabbergasted and humbled by this," Reilly said. "This is a unique place to be, there is no place like it. The parents, teachers and kids have all been so wonderful through the years."

Reilly said the biggest change she has seen in three decades is the incredible growth of the district.

"We started out across the street and had all grades, K-8 in one place," she said. "Now, look at this."

The festivity was kept secret from Moon and Reilly until moments before it happened.

"It's really hard to describe how I feel right now. It's an emotional moment," Moon said. "This is an example of why I've stayed around so long."

Students and staff dressed in 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s clothes remembering the decades the pair has been teaching.

Fremont Elementary School Principal Carol Bennett offered words of praise.

"The are both fabulous, all the way around," she said. "They have taken a wholistic approach to physical education. The look at the whole individual. It's health and fitness for both body and mind."