- Service on School Committees
- School-wide programs
Service on School Committees
During the three years I served students at Central Junior High in East Peoria, I served on a variety of school and district committees. My first year of teaching, I was one of the first members of the school's new literacy committee. The literacy committee was responsible for developing a school-wide program for vocabulary instruction in reading classes. I also helped align the school's reading curriculum with the Illinois Common Core Standards.
I also served on my schools PBIS committee during all of my years of teaching in East Peoria. We planned fun programs for students who met their behavioral goals. I was also able to meeting with local business owners and secure donations for the programs we developed.
At the district level, I worked on a committee that developed a staff survey used in the evaluation of school administrators. I also served on a district level committee which developed a social studies curriculum map that was aligned with the Social Studies Common Core Literacy Standards.
School-wide programs:
In addition to developing a school-wide vocabulary program, I helped organize and judge our school's annual National Geographic Geography Bee each year. I also collaborated with the other 8th grade U.S. history teacher at my school to plan school-wide events related to the social studies. In the months leading up to the 2012 presidential election, I worked with students and staff to prepare for a mock debate. I invited the district superintendent to be moderator. The entire school watched the debate and then voted for a candidate of their choice. Remarkably, Central Junior High students have accurately predicted the winner of each presidential election since they first started holding mock debates in the early 1980s! You can view a short news story about this event if you follow this link: http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/political/Students-hold-mock-presidential-debate-election-in-East-Peoria-177291651.html
