Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation (CUSF) honored six Unit 4 teachers in 2024 with the Shining Star Award. The selected Unit 4 teachers are nominated by their peers and exhibit exemplary service, extra effort, enthusiastic attitude, and innovative ideas that noticeably benefit their students. Unit 4 Schools are represented by Kellie Clinton, librarian at Westview Elementary, Jeralyn Goodfellow-Vargas, coach and interventionist at Stratton Elementary, Sarah Iehl, 5th grade teacher at Dr. Howard Elementary, Aby Olson, physical education teacher at Carrie Busey Elementary, Nick Schulze, music teacher at Franklin Middle School and Kara Whiteley, English-Social Studies teacher at Central High School.
Kellie Clinton is the librarian at Westview Elementary School in Champaign. Kellie’s nominator stated that she has “a front-row seat to view Kellie’s endless energy, ever-flowing fountain of ideas, and popularity with students and staff.” This year Ms. Clinton audited every classroom’s book collection so that classroom libraries could be diversified and updated. She also led projects to install a Buddy Bench and a “Little Free Library” at the school. Kellie runs a Book Club for upper-grade students and raised money so that every student can have a copy of the book. Kellie has worked to foster relationships with parents by hosting a morning coffee club “Coffee with Clinton”. In addition, she also serves as the volunteer coordinator for the annual Heritage Night at Westview.
Jeralyn Goodfellow-Vargas is the instructional coach and interventionist at Stratton Academy of the Arts in Champaign. That title, according to her nominator “does not come close to describing everything that Jeralyn does at Stratton.” When the school administration needs something, Jeralyn is the first person they come to when they need support to solve a challenging problem, run a collaboration meeting when administration is needed elsewhere, present at staff meetings, make schedule changes, etc. Jeralyn’s nominator says she also helps to run the school’s social media account, leads the English Language Arts and Science/Social Studies team with curriculum training, helps to set up schoolwide showcases, and builds relationships that support all students who need interventions to succeed.”
Sarah Iehl, is a nationally board-certified teacher who has taught first through fifth grade at Dr. Howard Elementary for 20 years. Sarah is the math lead at Dr. Howard and mentors her colleagues by serving as a resource for teachers on the math curriculum as well as developing professional development activities for teachers. Sarah also coordinates the America Reads/America Counts program at the school. Ms. Iehl serves as the liaison for Dr. Howard and the University of Illinois teacher preparation program. In this role, she recruits prospective mentor teachers and assists with training those mentors. Her nominator notes, “Sarah invites pre-service teachers into Dr. Howard classrooms so that the next generation of teachers get a bright start.”
Aby Olson is the physical education teacher at Carrie Busey Elementary in Champaign. Her nominator notes, “as a P.E. teacher Aby works with all K-5 students with an incredibly wide range of development and abilities, and Aby can adapt activities so that all students love going to P.E. Aby provides a wide variety of activities both traditional and non-traditional so that all students are engaged. In addition to her responsibilities as a P.E. Aby organizes a school-wide 3k run and coaches the 4th and 5th grade school running program which participates in the Illinois Marathon 5k. Finally, at the end of the school year, Aby coordinates and oversees the Fun Day, an event filled with all sorts of games and water activities. This event is one of the most memorable days of the year for students and staff.”
Nick Schulze is in his 10th year teaching music/strings and is currently at Franklin STEAM Academy. According to his nominator, “Mr. Schulze is focused first and foremost on creating a positive student experience. He makes it clear that he is excited to see the students and always sets an enthusiastic tone for the lesson. Mr. Schulze regularly collaborates with other music teachers to organize concerts that highlight all of the school's performing arts disciplines. He works hard to design performances that make all students feel successful and the display of student achievement contributes to the community at Franklin. Mr. Schulze consistently takes leadership roles among his colleagues to improve the district's music department and volunteers to help at other schools’ concerts.”
Kara Whiteley is the 11th-grade English teacher at Central High School in Champaign. Kara’s nominator said “This year Kara went above and beyond her usual duties by taking on the responsibility of developing and successfully implementing a brand-new course and curriculum: the College Board AP African American Studies course. Kara has guest speakers from district leaders, community activists, university professors, and former students to bring their expertise to her Central students. She worked tirelessly to make the new course relevant, rigorous, and rewarding for the students.” Kara’s nominator says “she creates a safe space for her students to share their ideas and experiences by encouraging discussion on challenging topics in her classroom.”
All Shining Star recipients will receive a $250 cash award and a $250 CUSF grant for their classrooms in the upcoming fall. Teachers will be recognized at the annual CUSF Spring Fling Teacher Appreciation Social on 5/1/24 at Riggs in Urbana.
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CUSF also announced its 2024 Super Star Award for Unit 4 and District 116 support staff and paraprofessionals. Kelly Hill, CUSF Executive Director notes, “Our schools would simply not run as effectively or efficiently without the many supporting talents and expertise of these essential staff members. From multilingual teaching aides, student support advocates, office managers, food service assistants, hall monitors, student engagement advocates, and custodial workers, these individuals help build relationships with students’ and staff which are often the “secret sauce,” for successful schools.”
Below are the nine 2024 Super Star individuals selected to receive a $250 thank you award from CUSF for their positive contributions to the 2023-24 school year.
2024 CUSF Super Stars from Unit 4:
Janet Bailey, Teacher’s Aide- South Side Elementary
Laquandris Gladney, Student Support Advocate & Assistant Football Coach- Centennial High
Dana Hernandez, Office Manager-International Prep Academy
Miguel Ibarra, Custodian-Barkstall Elementary
Lorraine Logue, Teacher’s Aide-Edison Middle School
Sharee Tanksley, Special Education Teacher’s Aide-Westview Elementary