LM Mar 2025

Education Elevat g

Dr. Patrick Anderson Wood River-Hartford ESD #15, Southwestern

Dr. Elizabeth Alvarez, Forest Park SD #91, Cook West

Who: Dr. Patrick Anderson, Superintendent

Who: Dr. Elizabeth Alvarez, Superintendent What: Implemented STEAM classrooms; Introduced Special Olympics at Forest Park SD #91; Improved family and community engagement through PTO restructuring; Author of Rabbit on the Moon: Embracing My Mexican American Identity ; Reformed

What: Author of The Kid in Purple Pants: Structured Approaches to Educating Underprivileged Students; Helped build a strong school culture; Added academic supports for struggling students; Led recovery efforts after a fire caused extensive smoke damage at an elementary school; Wrote the play School Secrets , which has been used as a

bilingual education practices in CPS Network Eight, leading to substantial gains in literacy scores; Former President of IALAS; Adjunct professor at Aurora University. Where: Forest Park SD #91, Cook West When: Superintendent of Forest Park SD #91 for four years; Chief of Schools for Network Eight in Chicago Public Schools for five years Why: Growing up, Dr. Elizabeth Alvarez kept her Mexican heritage at arm’s length, convinced that success meant blending in rather than standing out. However, as she grew older and more confident in her own skin, she learned how important it is to embrace the culture she once shied away from. “As educators, we have so much power to help students feel empowered,” Dr. Alvarez said. “I realized I needed to write about it and talk about the struggles I had, so teachers can help students see their heritage not as an obstacle, but as a source of strength and possibility.” Last year, Dr. Alvarez penned the book, Rabbit on the Moon: Embracing My Mexican-American Identity. The book emphasizes the critical role of identity in education, advocating for educators to truly know and care for their students.

professional learning experience; Where: Wood River-Hartford ESD #15, Southwestern When: Superintendent of Wood River-Hartford ESD #15 for 12 years; Superintendent at Central SD #104 for one year. Why: When Dr. Patrick Anderson wrote his book in 2012, The Kid in Purple Pants: Structured Approaches to Educating Underprivileged Students , he was partly writing a memoir and partly sharing personal insights from his decades in education. Dr. Anderson grew up in a loving, but economically disadvantaged home and had limited clothing options. His favorite pants, blue corduroy jeans, were forever altered when bleach turned them purple. “I didn’t have a lot of clothes and was embarrassed by that when I had to wear them to school,” Dr. Anderson said. “I never forgot that experience and have always been passionate about how our public education system can help students at risk solely for socioeconomic reasons. All kids deserve a chance to be successful.” At Wood River-Hartford ESD #15, an elementary district

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12 LM March 2025