District 230 was recognized with three Those Who Excel Awards, one for Meritorious Service and two for Special Recognition. Staff members from Victor J. Andrew High School will receive awards in the Classroom Teacher, Early Career Educator, and Support Personnel categories. Recipients will receive their awards at the annual Illinois State Board of Education Awards ceremony for the work they do to support and positively impact the students at Andrew High School.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, the annual "Those Who Excel & Teacher of the Year Awards" celebrate incredible classroom teachers, administrators, teams, volunteers, and school support personnel who have made lasting impacts on the students, families, and fellow educators in their school communities. 

Award of Meritorious Service Classroom Teacher Claudia Parra-Carrillo: Parra-Carrillo teaches in the Victor J. Andrew High School EL Department. As a bilingual Spanish teacher, her dual language directly supports only a portion of the newcomer population. With students from Palestine, Macedonia, India, Germany, and Vietnam, one would not know that she can't directly communicate with all of them - that is because she is so creative and resourceful in working with students and furthering their English skills through her classroom work. Aside from teaching, Parra-Carrillo stepped into a lead teacher role. She is involved in screening students, helping families transition into the school community, creating schedules that are rigorous yet attainable, and advocating for community supports when necessary.  She sourced translated directions in eight languages for the ACT, created intervention plans for struggling students, met with general education teachers on how to support EL students in their classes and proposed a school-wide professional development on strategies to work with English Learner newcomer students. In short, her impact is felt school-wide. 

 

Award of Special Recognition Early Career Educator Nowal Shalash: An alumnae of Andrew High School, Shalash is in her second year of teaching in the Special Education Department. Cheryl Russell, Director of Special Services, said, “I have been a Special Education administrator for over 20 years and I have never seen a second-year teacher with the maturity, poise, and dedication that Nowal has.” During her first two years, Shalash served as a Math 2 Co-Taught and Math 2 Instructional teacher, and more recently serves the ULTIMA program for students with the most cognitive challenges. Consistently collaborating and co-planning, she taught math in a way that students could understand and VJA saw its lowest failure rate in Math 2 in her classes. In the ULTIMA program, she established strong relationships with students and served as a great resource for parents. She strives to build an inclusive culture at VJA. She is the Arab Student Union sponsor and has been the head coach for Special Olympics for the last two years. She has built so many inclusive opportunities that VJA was recognized as a National Unified Champion Banner School for Special Olympics. Just 1 of 12 schools in the state to be recognized, this achievement is a direct result of Shalash’s hard work and dedication to inclusion for students both in and out of the classroom.

Award of Special Recognition Student Support Personnel Thomas Bell: Bell is the Building Manager at Andrew High School. He is an alumnus and wears that badge with honor. He cares about the school and takes pride in being a part of the team. He has had an incredible impact on what the building looks like, how the physical plant runs, and how his custodial and maintenance staff work with a higher purpose, understanding that the vision and mission of the school is to serve our students, staff, and stakeholders. He has also brought a level of communication to his position staff have never seen. They have clarity on the status of projects, forecasting of work to be done, and timelines for everything. They are fully informed when things are not on track due to ordering delays or lack of staffing. It is also safe to say that Bell has single-handedly changed the culture of his department and how the rest of our staff - and students - view and partner with them. As a result, his employees are happier, more productive, and feel more like a part of the Victor J. Andrew High School family.