District 57 celebrates special group of retiring teachers, staff members
Combined, they totaled 183 years of classroom experience and community connection.
All were ushered into a well deserved retirement, as Mount Prospect Elementary District 57 celebrated seven educators and staff members for their irreplaceable contributions to the district.
As a slideshow scrolled with pictures and quotes, the group met with fellow teachers, administrators and former students April 16 at Fairview Elementary School.
Honored were:
- Michele Logar — 41 years of service, teacher, Fairview Elementary School
- Carol Gray — 32 years of service, teacher, Lincoln Middle School
- Alicia Driver — 28 years of service, teacher, Lions Park Elementary School
- Robin Moran — 27 years of service, clerical assistant, Lincoln Middle School
- Loretta Rose — 21 years of service, teacher, Lincoln Middle School
- Roseann Schmitz — 21 years of service, special education teacher, Lincoln Middle School
- Kathy Minogue — 13 years of service, instructional assistant, Westbrook School for Young Learners
The group has seen plenty of changes over the years.
Gray, a science teacher, said when she started, science class meant textbooks, work sheets and memorizing facts. Over three decades, she watched the field shift toward more engaging lab activities.
“It has really made it great for the kids, and more fun for us, too,” she said. “I believe that’s how they learn best.”
Moran said it was an honor and privilege to work at Lincoln and in the district.
“They were my second family. I won the job lotto,” she said.
Minogue also said it was an honor to work with so many great people.
“I’ll carry these children in my heart forever,” she said.
At the heart of the celebration was Logar, who said, “District 57 is a special place for kids. There is a high expectation for student achievement, and the staff works tirelessly to meet the needs of all students. Parents and community members are supportive and highly engaged in creating the best experiences for our students.”
She said her fondest memories include teaching Mount Prospect history to second graders and taking field trips to show them how the village has developed and changed over time.
Logar also said teaching the children of former students has brought her great joy. The celebration brought her the opportunity to reunite with two former students from two different generations — Annie Simon and her daughter, Kate.
Annie had Logar as her teacher in the late 1980s.
“She was my favorite teacher of all time,” Simon said. “She just cared for her students and made them feel safe.”
Simon, who grew up to become an engineer working in a research laboratory that focuses on prosthetic devices at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, recalled sitting in front of Logar's reading chair as a girl in first and second grade.
Kate also had Logar as her second-grade teacher during a pandemic year, when instruction was split between remote and in-person.
Simon’s son Ryan did not have Logar as a teacher, but he absorbed the lessons anyway, listening during his sister’s virtual classes.
“I don't know how, but she was able to reach through that screen and captivate all the students,” Annie Simon said.
Dan Ophus, Logar’s principal at Fairview, said Logar helped create the Mount Prospect history curriculum and supplemented it by taking her class on a driving tour of local landmarks each year.
“No one will be quite like Michele,” Opus said.
District 57 Superintendent Mary Gorr agreed.
“She is one of the most transformational educators,” she said. “There's no way to capture how magnificent her impact has been.”