{{CurrentPage.Title}}

​Justin Johnson, a band instructor at Niles West High School in Skokie, can reflect on his own past and realize the opportunities afforded to him through his own music education and career. Justin has worked hard and he emphasizes his appreciation and gratitude by helping his students take advantage of their own opportunities. Justin believes the biggest issue facing not only music education, but fine arts programs in general, can be summed up in one word -- access. Justin believes many districts either do not have the funding to adequately support fine arts programs or often schools prioritize core academics by requiring students to take supplementary courses during periods that they would normally have been allowed to study fine arts. Justin developed a plan as part of the capstone project for his master’s degree to help students use alternative “split scheduling” that allows them to take both -- essentially at the same time -- until the supplementary course was no longer needed when the student raised their grade​.​​
​

​When he was in sixth grade, Eric Combs’ band teacher told the class he would be retired around the time they graduated college and one of them could be his replacement. Eric fulfilled his teacher’s prophecy by accepting the position -- the one he still holds as band instructor at Richland County Middle School in Olney, where he can be seen offering free instruments to youngsters to entice participation in the band program.

Eric feels his unconventional approach to teaching band, which is tailored around the needs of each individual student, is the reason for the success of the program. He has developed his own spreadsheets to facilitate tracking individual student progress and encourages his students to practice only when they want, as opposed to forcing a prescribed amount of time. His approach to teaching, coupled with assisting other band educators in developing their own curricula, is helping Eric meet his goal of advancing the profession beyond where it was when he first started.​​​​​

Susan Converse is a former journalist turned special education teacher. Susan has worked in the field of edu​cation for the past 23 years. She began her teaching career in 1995 and has taught at the elementary, middle school and high school level. She has served students with emotional disabilities, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities and autism. Susan is certified as a reading specialist and holds a master’s degree in educational administration. She served as an administrator for nine years before returning to the classroom in 2013.

Susan currently works at Edwardsville High School teaching students with intellectual disabilities and autism and assisting them with their transition needs as they prepare to exit the school system.​ Susan opened a coffee shop at her high school in 2016, which serves as a self-supported vocational training center for her students. The Tiger Den Coffee Shop has served as a stepping stone to competitive employment for her students and several of her students are now employed in the community. The support and success of the coffee shop has also allowed her students to support individuals in need within the school district and community. Over the past two years, the Tiger Den Coffee Shop has donated more than $10,000 to local families in need and has supported community initiatives which promote inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Susan hopes to expand this vocational initiative by opening a similar establishment in the community in the near future.​​

Lindsey Jensen came into the teaching profession via an indirect route. She took a job as a teacher’s aide in a junior high behavioral disorder classroom. Part of the reason the students were not in a “regular” classroom was their inability to communicate and socialize appropriately with their classmates. Lindsey says that she heard a few expletives th​at she had never heard before. She realized by the end of the first day that although this job was certainly “no walk in the park,” she loved it.

This experience became the catalyst for her falling in love with the teaching environment. She decided to pursue a degree in speech communication. Lindsey graduated from college with high honors in 2005 and immediately enrolled in a master’s program and earned a Master of Arts in Teaching. She has worked in a variety of educational settings. She was hired 10 years ago as an 11th- and 12th-grade English teacher at Dwight Township High School in Dwight Public School District 230.

Lindsey is concerned not only about her students’ academic success; she lets her students know that she cares about their emotional and social well-being.  Students relate to her bubbly personality, her warmth, and her enthusiasm for teaching and learning. One her students said that “Mrs. Jensen constantly radiates positivity. Her happiness is infectious.” Lindsey never gives up on a student and she will do anything she can to help students with schoolwork and personal issues. She is a teacher, a confidante, a mentor, and a role model. Students and staff alike look up to her and value her opinions, her thoughts, and her teaching.

Lindsey’s boundless enthusiasm for learning -- she is currently finishing work on a doctorate degree -- is evident in the work she and a colleague have been doing to redesign the 9-12 English curriculum. Her colleague says that “… Lindsey is so motivated to collaborate in producing a rigorous, well-aligned, skill-based, scaffolded curriculum that fosters practical student learning. She thrives on collaboration and, despite her confidence, has no ego.”

She inspires colleagues and students alike. Lindsey uses a variety of strategies to meet the varying needs of her students and she makes learning fun. She is flexible in her lessons to ensure that students really get it rather than just moving on because she has to meet a deadline. Lindsey gets excited about whatever she is teaching and that excitement transfers to her students. She is committed to building relationships with her students. 

Lindsey builds relationships with her students and inspires all those around her by being involved with extracurricular activities like directing the Drama Club, coaching cheerleading, directing the spring musical, and coordinating the polar plunge team, to name a few. Lindsey is most proud of her ability to capitalize on her role as DTHS Student Council adviser to influence student involvement in Special Olympics.

Lindsey is almost done with her doctoral work, but she says she doesn’t intend to leave her classroom. She said she promised herself she would use what she learned while working on her doctorate to help her become a better teacher and she believes the experience has done just that. The school’s principal sums it up with these words, “In my 30 years as an educator, I have never met a teacher who has matched the levels of enthusiasm and professionalism that Lindsey brings with her every day.”​​​