Teachers, Staffers Lauded for Excellence

Awards of Excellence to be presented at April 11 ceremony; two residents also to be recognized for community service.

The 20th Annual Awards of Excellence, honoring 30 Plainfield School District 202 educators and staff members, will be held at 7 p.m. April 11 at Plainfield East High School. Nearly 90 nominations were received for 70 District 202 employees, according to a media release issued by the district. A committee of three board members and the board’s community ambassador picked this year’s winners.  The board will also present special awards recognizing two residents for their community service. The Ira Jones Award will be presented to Plainfield native and Plainfield High School graduate Victoria Matway. Matway is a member of the C.W. Avery YMCA Advisory Board and has co-chaired its annual fundraiser for five years. The Ira Jones Award, created …

• Photos (1)

Board to Explore Longer School Day, All-Day Kindergarten

Both have been added to District 202's five-year plan, as were looking at ways to to lure back graduates as teachers and studying how district facilities are being used.

The Plainfield School District 202 board has approved its long-term strategic plan, which sets the direction the district wants to head in the next five years. The plan is the result of about nine months' worth of work, with input from district administration, staff, parents, students, community members and the board of education. Online surveys filled out by more than 3,000 district residents and intense workshops organized by each of the district’s four “houses” helped the administration learn what is important to the residents when shaping guidance for the future. The school board approved the plan at a special board meeting Monday with four new additions since it was last put forth to the public. One of the new ideas includes exploring…

• Photos (1)

Schools Make 9/11 Meaningful for Students Too Young to Remember

Students interviewed adults about their memories, made videos and flags, and created a memory quilt to honor the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

The student journalists at John F. Kennedy Middle School had an important assignment this week: Interview staff members at their Plainfield school about their memories of Sept. 11, 2001, and create a news broadcast to air Friday morning. The students at the school, which serves sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, were mere toddlers when the terrorist attacks occurred. Through the eyes of the school’s teachers, instructional technology specialist Donna Hebreard and eighth-graders Desiree Hill and Nathan Lang, the entire school got a special history lesson and a message of hope for the future. Hebreard said she approached the students who create 15-minute Friday broadcasts for the school’s Falcon News show about doing a segment on the 10th …

• Photos (2)

Dist. 202 Schedules Curriculum Nights for Parents

Program's a good way for parents to find out what their children will be learning this year, to see their schools and to talk directly to teachers.

Plainfield School District 202 schools will hold curriculum nights in August and September to let parents and guardians see what their students will be learning this year, talk to teachers, and see their schools. The schedule is: Bonnie McBeth Learning Center: August 31 o   6:30-8 p.m. – LEAP program and Multi-needs classes o   6-7 p.m. – morning classes o   7:15-8:15 p.m. -- afternoon classes Plainfield Academy, Turnabout, TAP and P-STEP: August 24 o   7 p.m. ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Central: August  23 o   5:45-6:30 p.m. -- kindergarten o   6:40-7:25 p.m. – 1st grade o   7:30-8:15 p.m. – 2nd grade August 25 o   5:45-6:30 p.m. – 3rd grade o   6:40-7:25 p.m. – 4th grade o   7:30-8:15 p.m. – 5th grade Charles Reed (Parents Only Please): August 25…

• Photos (1)

We've Found Melissa McCarthy's Mrs. Breen -- You'll Never Guess Where

Months after actress from Plainfield said grade school teacher was inspiration for her TV role, we've finally found her at Troy Heritage Trail Elementary.

Melissa McCarthy’s mysterious Mrs. Breen is missing no longer. In fact, the former St. Mary Immaculate School fifth-grade teacher, whom McCarthy cited as her inspiration for her role as an elementary school teacher on the hit CBS sitcom, Mike & Molly, has been in our midst the entire time. Last fall, when Plainfield native McCarthy told Plainfield Patch that she would love to reconnect with her favorite teacher, we launched an effort to find Mrs. Breen. We had nearly given up hope when a former classmate of McCarthy put us in touch with Lynne Breen, who now goes by Lynne Mau. She teaches second grade at Troy Heritage Trail Elementary, where she's been for the past two decades. Mau, now 54, didn’t realize the “adorable” little Missy …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (6)

Retiring Teachers, Administrators Applauded by School Board

Fifteen of the 43 retirees attended the District 202 board meeting Monday and recalled some of their favorite memories.

For Plainfield students, school's out for summer. But for 43 District 202 administrators, educators and support staff, it's school out forever this summer thanks to retirement. Fifteen of the 43 were able to attend the Plainfield School District 202 board meeting Monday and were recognized for their years of service. “All of our retirees have dedicated themselves to helping to guide, teach and support our students, taking care of our schools, and making District 202 the best learning community possible,” school board President Roger Bonuchi said in opening remarks. “We owe the education of our kids to what you do,” he said. Gene Carlson, principal at Wesmere Elementary School, said he may not feel retired until fall, when it will be the …

• Photos (1)

Parents Council

Does Summer Vacation Lead to Empty Wallets and Atrophied Brains?

Chicago Public Schools have switched some buildings to year-round schedules, and there are those who believe it's good for both students and parents.

If there's a day that kids anticipate as fervently as Christmas, it's the last day of school. That warm day in June, when students pack away pens and notebooks for the summer, ushers in the proverbial promised land of endless weeks of sleeping in, chilling out and knocking around. But some believe the long, lazy days of summer vacation might be a practice best relegated to the history books. There is a clamor in support of year-round schools that seems to grow louder every year. The arguments are well known: eliminating the traditional 10-week summer break in favor of shorter breaks throughout the year curbs summer learning loss, relieves classroom overcrowding and boosts attendance. It’s good for teachers, too, according to information on…

•  2 Comments
• Photos (2)

Ira Jones Teachers, Principal Reach Out as Mentors for the School's Male Students

Program is aimed at helping students, especially those from single-parent homes, navigate social, physical and emotional challenges.

Middle-school boys needing a helping hand or some thoughtful advice have a mentor at Ira Jones Middle School. Growing up in a single-parent home, Ira Jones Principal Ed Boswell knew that middle-school boys often need a man they can rely on as they go through social, physical and emotional changes during those tough transitional years. Elementary and middle school is mostly dominated by female teachers, and boys without a man in their lives to help them sometimes just need to talk to a male teacher, Boswell said. It was this thought that sparked the Ira Jones Boys Club, in which all 18 male staff members at the Plainfield school donate their time after school to help, mentor and serve as role models for boys in need of assistance. New this …

• Photos (1)

Plainfield Teachers, Staffers to Be Given Excellence Awards

The awards recognize employees who have positively influenced the lives of students and peers.

Plainfield School District 202 will honor 22 teachers and staff members at its 19th Annual Awards of Excellence on April 13. The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the Plainfield East High School auditorium, 12001 S. Naperville Road, Plainfield. The event is open to the community and a reception will follow the ceremony. The awards honor teachers and non-administrative staff who have touched the lives of their students and peers. In all, 69 nominations were received for 49 District 202 educators and staff members. A committee of three school board members and the board’s community ambassador picked this year’s winners. Since 1993, the board has honored 245 individuals with Awards of Excellence. “Our staff members help make District 202 the …

• Photos (1)

District 202 School Board Backs Off Deficit Plan to Cut More Than 85 Jobs

Instead, board members -- in a split vote -- opted to use $5.7 million in federal funding to avoid the staff cuts proposed by the superintendent.

The Plainfield School District 202 board eliminated 12 Reading Recovery specialists and 15 differentiation specialists Monday night, but voted to use the federal jobs stimulus money to save nearly all other jobs that were proposed to be cut. In a 4-3 decision, the board voted to reinstate the jobs that Supt. John Harper had proposed in December be trimmed as a way to erase the district’s $6.7 million budget deficit. According to Harper’s original proposal, 112 jobs would be eliminated, including instructional technology specialists, deans, secretaries and nurses. Harper and the district administration also recommended using a $5.7 million grant from the federal education jobs bill for salaries and the resulting unbudgeted and local funds …

•  12 Comments
• Photos (1)

Concerned Taxpayer

12:18 pm on Thursday, March 3, 2011

I thinked Mr. Hernandez missed the point of the email. The person suggested that the Superintendent lower his pay in order to save jobs. She didn't say he wasn't worth the money. This points to the option of reducing everyone's pay and benefits rather than massive layoffs. I wonder if the District has pursued negotiating with the collective bargaining units to lower pay and benefits in order to …   more ›