State Superintendent visits District 230

Last week, Illinois State Superintendent of School Dr. Tony Smith, Superintendent Dr. James M. Gay, members of the School Board, administrators, and most importantly, a number of students met to learn what it means to be an Eagle, a Charger and a Thunderbolt.

School Board President Rick Nogal and Dr. Gay shared an overview of District 230 including goals, demographics, and points of pride.

And then the real show began. Students from Sandburg, Stagg and Andrew eloquently shared information about college and career readiness, social and emotional learning opportunities, school pride, and communication. As expected, they represented themselves and their classmates in an incredibly articulate and thoughtful way.

In the end, the true theme for their conversation with Dr. Smith was the importance of relationships that help students achieve their goals. After asking a number of questions about their school experience, Dr. Smith spoke highly about the way they presented themselves and the obvious connection they have to their peers, teachers and staff. Dr. Gay shared this brief video that highlights the students' comments and Dr. Smith's praise for them.

Following the roundtable with students, Dr. Smith and members of the School Board Rick Nogal, Melissa Gracias, Sue Dalton and Denis Ryan visited Chris Simpson's Economics class where students were studying the stock market. It was then off to Kristin Mattera's Sophomore Honors English class as they had a lively discussion on a short story titled "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway.

"It was a great day to showcase our students, programs and schools," said Dr. Gay. "Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to travel to all three campuses, but I've extended an open invitation should Dr. Smith be able to return to check out Stagg and Andrew. Thankfully students from all three schools were able to attend and share their experiences with the State Superintendent."