Neighbors in the News: District 21 board president honored for outstanding leadership
• Phil Pritzker, board president, Community Consolidated School District 21, was named the 2021 recipient of the Illinois State Board of Education Thomas Lay Burroughs Award, presented annually to an outstanding member of a school board in Illinois.
Awardees display "extraordinary leadership on behalf of education at the local level" and exhibit characteristics like "consensus building and teamwork, and individual traits (like) vision, courage, integrity."
Pritzker was appointed to the District 21 board in July 1989, and has been reelected eight times, making him the longest-serving board member in district history.
He served as District 21 president from 1991-1993, 2001-2003, and 2017 to present. He has been the chairman of the board's Finance Committee since its inception.
Pritzker has also served as vice president, president and immediate past president for the Illinois Association of School Boards.
The Burroughs award was created in 1991 in memory of late ISBE chairman Tom Burroughs and is presented each November at a conference hosted jointly by the Illinois Association of School Boards, the Illinois Association of School Administrators and the Illinois Association of School Business Officials.
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Buffalo Grove Park District Commissioners Scott Jacobson and State Sen. Adriane Johnson received recognition at the Illinois Association of Park Districts' Best of the Best Awards Gala for their milestones in years of service to the community.
Johnson, who also now serves as the state senator in the 30th District, was recognized for her 10 years on the park board, while Jacobson, who is currently the park board president, was recognized for his 20 years of service.
"We have been so fortunate to have the kind of long-term, strong leadership that Scott and Adriane provide," said Buffalo Grove Park District Executive Director Ryan Risinger.
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Carmel Catholic High School seniors Isabella Pagano, Wrigley Kordt, Joseph Burke, and Victoria Nagode are among approximately 16,000 national semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
They now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million, which will be offered next spring.
"We're so proud of Isabella, Wrigley, Joseph, and Victoria," Principal Jason Huther said. "They should all be very proud of their accomplishments. Here at Carmel, we are much more than just a high school. We are a community that works together each day to ensure that we achieve our goals."
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 95% of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.
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