U-46 honors social worker, top 2% of graduating seniors

Karen Osborne knew she wanted to be "a sounding board" for students based on her own high school experience when a social worker helped her process grief after losing her father.

"I tell the students that my job is to help out them, parents and teachers with any kind of problems that they are having," said Osborne, a social worker at Fox Meadow Elementary School in South Elgin recently named the 2019 Kane County Student Support Personnel of the Year. "There is nothing so awful you can't tell someone, and everyone has a right to feel safe all of the time."

Osborne received the award during the Kane County Regional Office of Education's 44th Educator of the Year awards banquet May 3.

On Monday, the Elgin Area School District U-46 school board recognized Osborne with a certificate of achievement and honored the top 2% of graduating seniors districtwide during a ceremony at South Elgin High School.

Osborne, a 1981 graduate of Streamwood High School and a licensed clinical social worker, has worked in several U-46 elementary and middle schools for nearly 31 years. She has been at Fox Meadow since 2016.

"Every day I see her go above and beyond what is expected of her with both students and staff," Fox Meadow Principal Sjoukje Brown said. "She is frequently sought out by students and has a line outside her door every morning and afternoon with kids who want to say hello or goodbye."

Osborne meets with students in classrooms, small groups and individually to support their social-emotional and behavioral goals. This year she is piloting a new curriculum that teaches students resiliency.

"When you can connect with a student as young as 5 years old and see them using strategies that you taught them to calm themselves, it is amazing," Osborne said.

Forty-six students from the 2019 graduating class were recognized for being the top achievers from the district's five comprehensive high schools. They are:

• Bartlett - Aakash Nagarapu, Aaron Farabaugh, Amy Chen, Harsh Chheda, Nimesh Tailor, Rohan Shah, Rushi Patel, Tessa Wanthal, Theresa Videckis, Zain Sattar

• Elgin - Caroline Kaczmarek, Guadalupe Chavez, Joshua Placko, Kyle Coates, Lauren Dimayuga, Riya Kumar, Shrinal Patel, Simona Simeonova, Viseth Som

• Larkin - Caroline Przywara, Emily Crawford, Jordan Kosin, Kassia Lesiewicz, Kevin Duffy, Noa Greenfeld, Scarlett Ford

• South Elgin - Abigail Culloton, Bridget Bondi, Carli Allen, Hannah Anderson, Jace Warrick, MacKenzie Molina, Madeline Kordecki, Madison Caliendo, Nicole Allen, Sara Pfeil, Sarah Boghossian

• Streamwood - Anna Rataj, Brianna Yi, Jakub Adamek, Marcos Villarreal, Mary Chung, Nicole Rataj, Nikky Jordan, Victoria Bajorek, William Morgan