DECATUR — The Illinois State Board of Education
has named Ruth Meissen, an art teacher at Harlem Middle
School in Loves Park, as Illinois Teacher of the Year.
Meissen will spend next semester representing Illinois
Teachers at state, local and national events. She was
named Illinois Teacher of the Year at the 33rd annual
Those Who Excel/Illinois Teacher of the Year banquet
Saturday night in Decatur.
“Ruth’s passion and commitment to the
arts coupled with her dedication to community service
makes her an excellent representative of teachers throughout
the state,” said Christopher A. Koch, Ed.D State
Superintendent of Education. “What Ruth has accomplished
within the classroom, the school and the community
as a whole is truly impressive.”
As Illinois Teacher of the Year, Meissen will have
the opportunity to take her knowledge and expertise
out of the classroom. She will spend the 2008 spring
semester speaking at teacher workshops, educational
conferences, and civic and community meetings. She
will receive a lifetime tuition waiver to state universities
and a one-semester paid leave to pursue coursework
or develop an educational project that will benefit
students statewide. In addition, she will represent
Illinois at the NASA Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama
and in the National Teacher of the Year program sponsored
by the Council of Chief State School Officers and ING.
Meissen will also receive products and services from
Motorola and SMARTer Kids.
Meissen has always known she would have a career that
incorporated her love of art but teaching was the furthest
profession from her mind. Instead she initially pursued
a career in advertising and within a few short years
was vice-president of the Northern Illinois Advertising
Council.
After a few years, Meissen took some time off to raise
her second child and it was during that period when
she began to think about changing careers. Her then
seven year-old son told her that she should be an art
teacher because “she would be good at it.” It
was the last thing Meissen had been considering but
she decided to enroll in some courses and see where
it went.
She quickly discovered that she not only liked being
in the classroom, she loved it. According to Meissen, “the
intensity of my previous career made the potential
chaos of a classroom full of active students seem easily
manageable. But most of all, being able to share my
artistic knowledge and love for creating artwork with
students was absolutely exhilarating.”
Like every aspect of Meissen’s life, her enthusiasm
and intensity for helping students be successful doesn’t
end at her classroom door. She channels her energy
into community service by working with the student
council, creating partnerships with businesses that
can help students, Habitat for Humanity, fundraising,
and adopting a “sister” school in New Orleans
that had experienced severe damage during Hurricane
Katrina.
Her work with the Hynes School in New Orleans fostered
correspondence programs between the students at Harlem
Middle School and students at Hynes. She raised money
for supplies and visited the school, at her own expense,
to meet the children and their teachers. Principal
John Cusimano explained the impact the project had
on all involved; “Her efforts have not only helped
the Hynes staff and students, but allowed our staff
and students to unify in an effort to reach out to
others.”
Meissen holds an art degree from Columbia College
and a master’s degree in teaching from Rockford
College.
The 2006-2007 Illinois Teacher of the Year is Joe
Fatheree, a technology instructor at Effingham High
School in Effingham, Illinois.