March2020LM

Education Elevat g We continue our series highlighting tremendous educators across Illinois who have given their time and energy to ele- vating the superintendency and public education as a whole. Each month, we will feature two educators who are going the extra mile and truly making a difference beyond their school districts and local communities. While we are aware of many of the contributions administrators are making, we are open to any suggestions for someone to feature next month. To make a recommendation, contact Jason Nevel, IASA director of social media and publications, at jnevel@iasaedu.org or by calling 217–753–2213.

Dr. Lori James-Gross, Unity Point CCSD#140

Dr. KenWallace, Maine Township HSD#207

Who: Dr. Ken Wallace, superintendent What: Founder of the Chicago Coaching Center; founding partner of the Illinois Personal Learning Network; president of the Executive Board of Illinois Digital Educators Alliance; speaker at conferences; public education advocate. Where: Maine Township HSD #207, Cook North Region

Who: Dr. Lori James-Gross, superintendent

What: Partnership for Resilience Board of Directors; The Harvard Graduate School of Education By All Means project. Where: Unity Point CCSD #140, Shawnee Region When: Resilient Southern Illinois since

2018; Illinois Partnership for Resilience and Pilot school for Harvard University’s By All Means project since 2018. Why: As a young teacher in San Antonio, Texas, Dr. James- Gross learned to focus on developing the whole child— providing an educational experience beyond just academics. “The students had significant needs that had to be met before we could direct our attention toward teaching and learning on a daily basis,” she says. “The importance of building relationships with students and making sure they have both a voice and choice in their education, and that we are a partner in that process, has always stayed with me.” Unity Point CCSD #140 began creating individualized student success plans that focused on the development of the whole child soon after Dr. James-Gross was hired as superintendent 14 years ago. Since then, the district has been involved with several initiatives to build upon that work and share it with others.

When: Chicago Coaching Center founded in 2016; Illinois Personal Learning Network founded in 2019. Named president of the Executive Board of IDEA in February 2020. Why: The Chicago Coaching Center was conceived as a way to build upon the instructional coaching model at Maine Township HSD #207 and offer training to educators across the state. Maine Township HSD #207 is one of the leaders in instructional coaching after the high school district evolved to “all in” coaching in fall of 2014, where every staff member is partnered with an instructional coach. “Kids come and go but adults stay,” says Dr. Wallace. “Their practices and knowledge needs to continue to grow and change so they can continue to best serve our students.” The different workshops, offered in the summer at Northern Illinois University Naperville Conference Center, are

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LM March 2020