LM Nov-Dec_2021

Dr.Webb’sCareer Accomplishments Include:

Even as superintendent, I still want to have that special connection to students.

• Expanded pre-K programs to full day for all 3- and- 4-year old students in the district. • Partnered with Shawnee Community College to offer 33 college dual credits at no cost to Goreville High School students before they graduate. • Created a premier Certified Nursing Pro- gram and expanded college and career preparation by offering certification training in auto mechanics and food service. • Worked with parents, teachers and adminis- trators to expand the school day to provide more targeted support for students. • Added 15 new sports and club teams to enhance the student experience in Goreville CUSD #1. • Adopted a 1:1 technology initiative in 2014 that allowed the district to close the poverty gap and helped the pivot to remote learning in the 2019-20 school year. • Established a Learning Partnership Team that includes teachers, parents, administra- tors and board members that meets monthly to establish strategic planning and transpar- ent communication. • Developed a student journalism program and launched the Goreville News newspaper after the community’s newspaper closed. • Worked with the city on a Tax Increment Financing district agreement that support- ed the city’s revitalization goals while also protecting the school district by guaranteeing at least 10 percent of all TIF proceeds were returned to the district.

Webb ... cont’d.

reimagine public education on the fly. For the most part, Goreville CUSD #1 avoided large-scale dissension from community members that surfaced in other school districts. The district remained in person five days per week during the 2020–21 school year. To keep kids safe, it deployed innovative COVID-19 mitigation tactics, including purchasing mobile carts at the middle school to allow teachers to switch classrooms instead of students and employing additional medical staff and reading coaches. “Dr. Webb made sure everyone’s needs were being met, most importantly the students,” said Mary Lou Crews, Goreville Elementary School teacher. “The school district really did whatever it took.” As superintendent, Dr. Webb has overseen numerous improvements that helped elevate student success and improve the quality of teaching and instruction in the district. In 2014, Goreville CUSD #1 adopted a 1:1 technology initiative that allowed the district to close the poverty gap and helped the pivot to remote learning in the 2019–20 school year. The 1:1 technology initiative provided Google Chromebooks to all students grades 5–12, Apple iPads for all students grades K–4, and extensive training for all teachers to be able to use the devices as a tool for better engagement. “The movement has been transformational as the district has continually improved on student discipline and improved performance on standardized test scores while making certain that all students have the best technology available to them, no matter their ability or poverty level,” Dr. Webb said. “Our principals have done an exceptional job and our whole staff has been incredible to work with. They work so very hard to make sure our kids get a great education.”

8 LM Nov./Dec. 2021