Three teachers nominated for Golden Apple
BY STEPHANIE KOHL skohl@pioneerlocal.com February 8, 2012 10:48AM
2/1/12 Barrington Gail Permenter, a teacher at the Early Learning Center in Barrington, leads a circle time activity with her class on Wednesday, Feb. 1st. Permenter has been nominated for a Golden Apple Award. | Dan Luedert~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 10, 2012 8:06AM
Three Barrington Community Unit School District 220 teachers are hard at work completing applications and essays after having been nominated for the Golden Apple award.
The Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching was the idea of Golden Apple founder Martin Koldyke, who felt that excellent teachers did not receive adequate recognition for their contributions to building a stronger, better-educated society. Every year since 1986, Golden Apple has chosen 10 outstanding teachers to receive this award. The teachers become lifetime members of the Golden Apple Academy of Educators, which conceives, develops and supports programs for teachers to make them more effective in the classroom.
Among those nominated from District 220 are Gail Permenter, an early childhood teacher at the Barrington Early Learning Center, Katie Blackowicz, a first-grade teacher at Grove Avenue Elementary School, and Christa Gillespie, a third-grade teacher at Grove.
Permenter is in her 22nd year with District 220. She started as a building aide at Sunny Hill School before becoming a teacher at the Woodland School and now at the Early Learning Center. She has no idea who nominated her.
“I was just shocked,” she said of learning she was a nominee. “I opened up the letter and went ‘oh my gosh!’ It’s a very amazing thing.”
Blackowicz is in her eighth year of teaching in District 220. She spent her first seven years teaching third grade and this is her first teaching first grade.
“I am truly honored to be a Golden Apple nominee,” she said.
Gillespie is in her eighth year with District 220, but her 10th year as a teacher. She has taught second, third and fourth-grade at Grove and started her teaching career in Cary School District 26 as a sixth-grade teacher.
“Any time you are recognized for your work, it is an honor,” she said.
All of the district’s nominees are passionate about students and education. Blackowicz even has a history at Grove, as her mother was a teacher there.
“She was so passionate about her job and it inspired me at a very early age,” Blackowicz said. “I spent a lot of time at Grove in my mom’s classroom as a young child helping her prepare for a new school year and visiting and helping out on my days off. My mom, Michelle Kern, taught at Grove for 34 years before retiring last year.”
Gillespie became a teacher because of her love for learning and desire to make a difference in people’s lives.
“I believe in working with the whole child, academically, socially and emotionally,” she said. “Each day I have content to teach, but I also take time to connect with my students. Learning their interests and sharing my own, and talking through problems are just a few ways that we build our classroom community.”
Permenter came into teaching after her children had headed off to school, so she feels like she came into the profession with a mother’s perspective.
“You always need to be one step ahead of the kids,” Permenter said. “... I enjoy the learning process and I like to see (the kids) become part of the classroom community.”
Grove Principal Cindy Kalogeropoulos believes both Blackowicz and Gillespie make a difference.
“They show a strong commitment to making a significant difference in the lives of their students,” she said. “They will not accept mediocre academic growth and both truly believe that each child has the potential to become a powerful learner. They also know that it is important to connect with the social emotional needs of their students and so they make it a priority to become lovingly connected to the kids. They get to know their hobbies, outside interests, pets and little idiosyncrasies.”
Applications and essays are due to the Golden Apple Foundation Feb. 15. Golden Apple finalists are usually announced in March.
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