News

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Statewide “Those Who Excel” honorees announced

Illinois Teacher of the Year to be named at annual banquet for top educators Oct. 22

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced today the statewide recipients of the 2016-17 Those Who Excel awards. State education officials will honor the 250 outstanding Illinois educators later this month at the 41st annual Those Who Excel/Teacher of the Year banquet in Normal. Among the educators honored will be the 10 Teacher of the Year finalists, one of whom will be named the top Illinois educator for 2017.

“I am very happy to publicly recognize these extraordinary educators,” said State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith, Ph.D. “They continuously build relationships with students that foster centers of healthy communities and encourage students to succeed.”

Local school district leaders and members of school communities nominate candidates for Those Who Excel recognition. A committee of peers, organized through ISBE, chooses the award winners, who will be honored at a banquet Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Normal. Statewide education organizations are represented on the committee, which includes former award winners.

Two-hundred-and-fifty honorees will receive recognition at the banquet on three levels -- Recognition, Merit, and Excellence -- and across multiple categories, including classroom teacher, school administrator, and student support personnel.

“These educators have distinguished themselves for their exceptional work in their respective fields,” said Cinda Klickna, Illinois Education Association president. “These award recipients represent true excellence and their students are indeed lucky to have them in their lives.”

The 2017 Teacher of the Year, to be announced at the banquet, will serve as Illinois’ ambassador for the teaching profession during the 2016-17 school year and will represent Illinois in the National Teacher of the Year program sponsored by VOYA Financial. Kim Thomas, a math teacher at Woodruff Career and Technical Center in Peoria Public School District 150, served as Illinois ambassador for teaching during the 2015-16 school year.

“As the 2016 Teacher of the Year, I have been blessed with the ‘amathazing’ honor of ‘mathivating’ wonderful educators and students by spreading my love for teaching and math across the great state of Illinois,” Thomas said.

For more information on ISBE’s Those Who Excel program, please visit www.isbe.net/those-who-excel/default.htm.


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