Gurnee village board honors community's top teachers
The Gurnee village board publicly thanked three educators Monday for their good work over the past year.
Warren Township High School District 121's Patsy Thompson, Gurnee Elementary District 56's Aprilanne Lynch and Woodland Elementary District 50's Tamara Graham each received a plaque and $1,000 from a private foundation as part of the third annual Teacher of the Year awards given during Monday's village board session.
The teachers represent the three school districts serving Gurnee.
Graham, a third-grade teacher, has been with Woodland for 18 years. She's known for holding the trial of the Big Bad Wolf in an effort to bring to life the story of "The Three Little Pigs." With retired Lake County Circuit Judge Raymond McKoski presiding, students also learn about the legal system.
"Being a lifelong Gurnee-area resident and having attended Gurnee schools as I have no children, I know the quality and dedication of all teachers in our village," Graham said. "It's an honor for me to receive this award in the village in which I grew up."
Thompson, in her 23rd year as a Warren special-education teacher, knew at a very young age she wanted to teach children with special needs. She was praised by Warren Superintendent John Ahlgrim for taking her role as a special-education instructor seriously and not being afraid of ask questions or seek feedback from other professionals.
"For 23 years, I've been doing what I love to do," Thompson said in accepting the honor. "And not only do I like to see the kids do well academically, I like to watch them socially mature, especially when they come back and actually say to you, 'Everything you said to me was so true. Thank you.' It does make a big difference."
Lynch has been with District 56 for the past seven years. District officials cited her willingness to be creative and take risks in finding ways to get students more engaged in learning. She is a fifth-grade teacher who handles various subjects such as mathematics, language arts and science.
"We all work really hard to make sure that we are personalizing learning for everybody and that we're going above and beyond trying to take care of every child in our schools," Lynch said.
Superintendents from districts 121, 56 and 50 attended the board meeting and stood in front of the village board dais as their teachers accepted their awards.
Ahlgrim, who is completing his first year leading District 121 after working as Zion Elementary District 6's superintendent for seven years, said he was impressed how Gurnee honored its teachers Monday night.
"They do not do this in other communities," Ahlgrim said, "and it really is a very public and special evening tonight."
Money for the awards comes from Gurnee resident Donald Henderson's private foundation. He's a past president of his family's Joseph J. Henderson and Son Inc. general contracting business headquartered in the village.
Gurnee Trustee Thomas Hood helped organize the awards with representatives from the three school districts.