Top Teacher: Elementary educator in Prospect Heights makes library a welcoming place

Jill Schlomann has seen Anne Sullivan Elementary School from both sides.

She was a student there, and now she serves as the Prospect Heights school’s library media specialist, following a 20-year tenure as a fifth grade teacher.

Hers is a dream job.

“I have always loved kids,” she said. “I always knew I wanted to be a teacher.”

She said she was inspired by Carol Windus, the preschool teacher at Wheeling High School, which Schlomann attended after graduating from MacArthur Middle School.

“We would be like little teachers for the preschool kids. That was my first introduction to what being a teacher would be like.”

She student-taught fifth grade while she was a student at the University of Colorado. When a position became available in Prospect Heights Elementary School District 23, she jumped at the opportunity.

“The district's a great place, so I was really excited to be able to come back,” she said.

It was a bit of an adjustment returning to her childhood school.

“So when I first started, some of my former teachers were here,” she said. “It was difficult to call them by their first name and be co-workers.”

Not only did she come home to her former school, she even taught in her old fifth grade classroom.

She said she loved teaching fifth grade.

“You can joke with the kids,” she said. “They get humor. I like that you can teach them content.”

She said she applied for the library position when she heard the library media specialist was retiring.

“I thought, 'Change is good.' I had never done anything but fifth grade, and I love books.”

Teaching has changed since she was a student in District 23. It's no longer one size fits all.

The location of the library is different, too. It is now located where the gym used to be. In terms of function, the room is different from the standard classroom as well.

“It's my classroom, but it's also used for a lot of the clubs after school,” she said. “It's used for a lot of lunch meetings. It's used for staff meetings.”

She prefers the library have different functions within the space, including quiet areas where students can work as well as room for collaborative work.

“I like to have different areas for the kids to be able to get comfortable in here,” she said.

It is filled with personal touches, including a neon smile emoji sign and a therapy dog, Ember, that visits the library twice a week. She said two days a week, the children read to Ember, who is 4 years old.

Schlomann’s duties are wide ranging.

On a recent Tuesday, the children were in the library for typing club, familiarizing themselves with the keyboard. Also that day, her students read from the Bluestem Book Award-winning books.

There is a difference between teaching fifth grade and teaching in the library.

“I only get each classroom for a short amount of time,” she said. “So I do miss sometimes developing those deep relationships with my class that I had all day, every day, for a whole year. But, on the flip side of that, I see every kid in the building and get to know them. So I feel I have a big reach.”

Her assistant, Kathy Wrobel, said Schlomann will get to know the more than 300 children on a personal level, working with them on classwork and helping them check out books.

“She's great,” Wrobel said. “As soon as they come in for checkout, she always says the same thing. 'How can I help you find a good book?' She's really good about finding any genre book for the kids.”

One of the students, Lucy Sawicki, an 11-year-old fifth grader, said, “She asks what books are good for you and what's your favorite genre.”

Recommending books to her students means she has to look at reading material through their eyes.

“I ask them about books that they've read before and liked,” she said. “I do talk to their teachers. So their teachers help me, especially with reading levels.”

As expected, she is an inveterate reader.

“I try to read just kid books during the school year and then adult books in the summer,” she said. Currently, she is reading the James Ponti book “City Spies.”

She said she enjoys reading children's literature, but reads them in a different way than she did as a child.

“I have branched out a lot more,” she said. One genre she has come to appreciate is fantasy.

She said she likes realistic fiction, as well as books about children with diverse abilities and cultural backgrounds because they can encourage children to be more empathetic.

She mentioned “Out of My Mind,” by Sharon Draper and “The Thing About Georgie,” by Lisa Graff, books that can encourage children to be more compassionate.

“I think it's important to teach kids that books are for fun, but also how to find information, finding the right resources for what they're trying to do, and also with the internet, how to be good critical thinkers.”

Curriculum vitae: Jill Schlomann

School: Anne Sullivan Elementary School

Occupation: Library media specialist

Education: Anne Sullivan Elementary School, MacArthur Middle School, Wheeling High School, University of Colorado (bachelor’s in psychology, teaching certificate); St. Xavier University (master’s in teaching and leadership).

Work experience: Fifth grade teacher, Anne Sullivan Elementary School.

Tips from top teacher Jill Schlomann

• Try to get to know each child as much as possible.
• Help them find books to love and develop a love of reading.
• Encourage children who don’t love to read by having them read books that spark their interest.
• Make reading fun by creating different reading challenges through the year. Kids love competition, so adding a competitive element helps many kids pick up a book.
• Incorporate STEAM activities into the lessons to make learning hands on and fun.