THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY
DANVILLE — This year’s David L. Fields Excellence in Teaching Award-winning teachers are being recognized at Wednesday’s Danville school board meeting for their dedication to their students.
The Danville Public School Foundation and district announced the recipients.
Meet this year’s winners:
Chelsea Mickna
Mickna is a special education, resource teacher at Southwest Elementary School. She’s in her seventh year of teaching at Danville School District 118. While pursuing a degree in education at the University of Illinois, she student-taught at Southwest Elementary. That positive student teaching experience made her commit to District 118, she said. After graduation, she taught second grade at Mark Denman Elementary then transferred to second grade at Southwest Elementary. At the end of her second year, she became a special education teacher. She has served as the K-4 resource teacher at Southwest the last five years.
“Seeing the growth and development of students has been the most rewarding experience in teaching,” Mickna said. In addition to being the resource teacher, she serves as unit leader, AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) site coordinator, mentor and support PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports).
“It was an honor and surprise to receive such a prestigious award. I come in each day and do what is best for the kids. Focusing on the impact I can make drives my motivation,” Mickna said.
Jessica Marble
Marble is a sixth-grade resource teacher, special education/unit leader at South View Upper Elementary School. Marble says she’s a science “nerd” at heart. She watches a lot of animal and nature documentaries. Her bucket list activity would be swimming (in a cage) with a great white shark. Her first teaching job was at Westville High School. She’s also taught in Oakwood, Hoopeston, Champaign and through the Vermilion Association of Special Education. She’s been at South View since 2017.
She says the best part of being an educator “is forming positive relationships with students and providing them with a trustworthy, caring adult with clear expectations. It is amazing to watch a student finally understand a concept and feel the success of learning. I also love being a teacher because my teaching peers understand the day-to-day struggles we face and are always there to help pick me up on a bad day. Teachers are truly a family.”
“It is an honor to be chosen for the David L. Fields award because education, in general, is a very difficult field now. There are many educators that are working beyond the requirements their position requires, that receive little to no recognition. I am grateful that my administration was able to understand and appreciate the amount of work I took on this year to help the building and district. This year was a success thanks to the help of the special education team, classroom room teachers, and administration,” Marble said.
Kara Hile
Hile has worked at Danville High School for the last 13 years, starting her career in August 2011. She has taught many courses within the Career and Technical Education Department. She currently instructs photography and multimedia broadcasting.
Whether it’s Channel 1, the daily bell music, recording of the talent show and other assemblies to share with parents, creating a promotional video for the new health clinic, marketing for Black Heritage Month, sports team photos, printing photos for the academic excellence wall, the Maroon and White (newspaper), or the yearbook, Hile always answers the call, according to the foundation.
She recently wrote a public school foundation grant for a digital signage project. As a result, DHS will have 18 televisions mounted in the cafeteria and around the school to stream announcements, student work and other student-created content. This will be instrumental in engaging and celebrating the students while contributing to making DHS an updated school environment, according to the foundation.
“Receiving the David L. Fields Excellence in Teaching award has truly been an honor. Knowing that the dedication to my school and students is noticed is very special to me. I attended District #118 schools K-12, and believe the caring and supportive environment I had here growing up helped pave the way to making me the educator I am today. I always set high goals for myself with every role I take on and hope that my classroom can be a safe, engaging and fun environment for everyone who walks through the door,” Hile said.
The Dr. David L. Fields Excellence in Teaching Awards were established in 2001 and are annually bestowed upon outstanding teachers from the elementary, upper elementary or middle school and high schools. The awards are for those representing the finest in teaching, demonstrating a continuing dedication to their profession and to their students.
The award is named for David L. Fields, a 1953 Danville High School graduate, who retired as the Danville schools superintendent after serving 40 years (1960-2000) with the district as a teacher, principal and superintendent.
Each award recipient receives a $500 cash honorarium from the school foundation, a $500 stipend from District 118 for instructional supplies of the honoree’s choice to further enhance the educational environment in the recipient’s classroom and an engraved paperweight from the Danville Education Association.
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