District 88 receives two Illinois State Board of Education Those Who Excel awards

District 88 is recognized with two awards during the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) 2019-20 Those Who Excel Awards Banquet. That event took place on Oct. 19. Former District 88 Board of Education member Sharon Kucik received an Award of Merit in the category of Board Member, and members of the DuPage High School District 88 Learning Community School Safety Team received an Award of Excellence. Pictured are (from left) Addison Trail Principal Michael Bolden, District 88 Superintendent Dr. Scott Helton, Kucik, Joe Maranowicz (Deputy Police Chief, Village of Addison), District 88 Board of Education President Donna Craft Cain, State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carmen Ayala, District 88 Assistant Superintendent Jean Barbanente, Willowbrook Principal Dr. Daniel Krause, Willowbrook social worker Erik Engel, Mike Lay (Police Chief, Village of Villa Park) and Timothy "Bill" Hayden (Director of Police, Village of Addison).

On Oct. 19, District 88 was recognized with two awards during the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) 2019-20 Those Who Excel Awards Banquet at the Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. To see the district receiving those awards, click the video above.

Former District 88 Board of Education member Sharon Kucik received an Award of Merit (the second-highest award level) in the category of Board Member. Kucik served on the Board from 2007 to 2019 and was Board Secretary from 2011 to 2019. She was honored for her tremendous commitment to the Board through her service on numerous Board Committees, as well as her work on the Building The Future referendum project, leading as Chairperson of the District 88 Foundation and being a member of the Willowbrook Athletic Hall of Fame Committee and the Willowbrook Distinguished Alumni/Distinguished Service Recognition Program Committee.

Members of the DuPage High School District 88 Learning Community School Safety Team (which is comprised of the Village of Addison, the Village of Villa Park, the Addison Police Department, the Addison Fire Protection District, the Villa Park Police Department, the Villa Park Fire Department, the DuPage Regional Office of Education, state representatives and senators, Peg Agnos and Jen Figurelli from the Legislative Education Network of DuPage (LEND), Addison Trail social worker Jorge de Leon and Willowbrook social worker Erik Engel) received an Award of Excellence (the highest award level) for their work in creating and participating in several safety activities and programs.

Those events include a School Safety Forum in March 2018 (where about 400 student leaders from 28 Chicago-area high schools came together at Willowbrook for a day of conversation and planning regarding school safety) and a Safety and Security Tabletop Exercise in April 2018. They also are being honored for the implementation of ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) Training in District 88 in August 2018 and for earning a grant from the Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) for the School Violence Prevention Program. With the funding, District 88 and Addison School District 4 have bought and are installing pull stations similar to fire alarms, strobe lights and mobile panic buttons that will be placed throughout the schools and outside the buildings through BluePoint Alert Solutions. This provides another layer of protection and allows the schools to contact local authorities quicker in the event of an emergency.

These are two examples of the leadership, commitment and care for the District 88 learning community that allow the district to accomplish its mission of working for the continuous improvement of student achievement.

For more information about the Those Who Excel program, go to https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Those-who-excel.aspx.