LM Summer 2018

As a very young child, she said, her grandparents emphasized the importance of education. She didn’t need much convincing. “I loved school,” Harrison-Williams said. “I decided I wanted to be a teacher while in the first grade. My first-grade teacher was Ms. Strong, she was beautiful, smart and very nice. So, I wanted to be just like her.” While her love of education never waned, Harrison-Williams’ path into the profession turned out to be unconventional. She dropped out of college after getting pregnant. Shortly afterwards, she got married and gave birth to her second child, before returning to school to earn her Bachelor of Arts degree from Northeastern Illinois University. She would later earn her Master of Arts degree from Northeastern in Educational Administration and Doctor of Education degree from Northern Illinois University. She and her husband, Ulysses, have been married for 35 years and have two adult children and four grandchildren. When she landed her first teaching job in the Chicago Public Schools, Harrison-Williams was ready and hit the ground running. Before long, she had put her stamp on the building. “After two or three years as a teacher, I had a reputation as the third-floor principal,” she said. “I believed it was not just the kids in my classroom that were going to behave, but all the children in the building would behave.” Fittingly, Harrison-Williams pursued a career in administration. She was hired as head teacher at a child/ parent center for the city of Chicago, a position she held for one year before she moved outside the city to Joliet, where she was hired as a building principal. She then worked in Joliet for three years before being hired as a building principal in Valley View Community Unit School District 365 in Romeoville and Bolingbrook. Meanwhile, she had her sights on becoming superintendent. However, it wasn’t an easy decision, she said, since being a principal, and attending after school events kept her, at times, from being home with her family. The superintendency could mean spending more time away from family. When she told her daughter her plans to pursue her doctorate and possibly the superintendency, her daughter wasn’t thrilled with the idea initially because work and school meant more time away. “I assured her it would be the last degree that I would pursue,” Harrison-Williams said. The decision paid off. Harrison-Williams was hired as superintendent at Fairmont School District 89 in Lockport.

Above: Dr. Harrison-Williams checks in on a student practicing coding during summer school. Below, Harrison-Williams with husband, Ulysses, the IASA at Superintendents of Distinction Luncheon in Springfield.

She worked there for 2½ years before heading to Hazel Crest, where she has been ever since. To this day, Harrison-Williams said, she feels truly blessed; she gets to live her dream of leading a school district and touching the lives of so many children that could possibly be our next generation of leaders. “I love every aspect of this job,” she said. Representsall superintendents Throughout her career as a superintendent, Harrison- Williams has been active with IASA. In addition to serving this past year as president-elect of the association, she also has been treasurer of IASA and served on various committees.

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