This episode originally aired on 9/12/2023 Marilena Gozur was named the 2022 Illinois East Central Teacher of the Year by the Illinois State Board of Education's Those Who Excel Awards. Mrs. Gozur is going into her 14th year at Cedar Ridge Elementary School in Unit 5, which is where she started her career. As a bilingual specialeducation teacher, she works with students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

This episode originally aired on 1/16/2024. Jeff Spencer is a Science Instructional Coach for ROE # 17 with experience teaching at the college and high school levels. Through his work at ROE # 17, Jeff partners with school districts and K-12 teachers to design, adapt, and support classroom practices that align with the Next Generation Science Standards.

REPLAY: This episode originally aired on 1/9/2024. April Schermann is a math and computer science teacher at Normal West High School anda fierce advocate for STEM education. She is a 2023 Disney 100 Teacher, a 2023Project Lead the Way National Computer Science Teacher of the Year, amulti-year recipient of the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Educator Award, a2019 Illinois Classroom Teacher of the Year Nominee, and a Girls Who CodeAdvisor, among other things. In this episode, we talk to April about all thingsscience, technology, engineering, and math.

On this week's episode of ROE 17 POD, we sit down with Kyah Brogan-Shawback, a student at Pontiac Township High School. Kyah and her classmates recently did a project in Mr. Ritter's Environmental Science class that resulted in a permanent headstone marker for the final resting place of Pvt. William Clark, a Civil War veteran whose grave had been unmarked.

Sherri Morgan has been in public education for 25 years, the last 18 of those at LeRoy CUSD 2. Sherri serves as a third-grade teacher and a leader in her building. She has mentored many new teachers over the years and has fostered a welcoming environment for all. Sherri has received multiple "Regional Recognition" nominations for her work, most notably her "Kindness Week" and "One Book One Community."

On this week's episode of ROE 17 POD, we sit down with Mr. Glen Hoffmann just before he retires. Glen Hoffmann has served the ROE # 17 Regional Alternative Schools for the past 27 years and has been a leader in alternative education locally, statewide, and nationally.

On this week's episode, we chat with Ashley Burgard, a PreK and ECE Teacher at Mt. Pulaski Grade School. Ashley talks about the Early Childhood Block Grant that she secured for Mt. Pulaski which will allow the district to offer tuition-free PreK in their district as well as invaluable teacher resources and training. Listen now to learn more about the vital role PreK plays in the development of students.

On this week's episode, we travel to Olympia High School to meet with Britta Langley, the Career Coordinator at OHS, and Julia Collins, a high school senior who completed a teaching internship this past fall. We learn about the internship opportunities at OHS and how students can benefit from them, even if they aren't sure about their future career path.

In this episode, we sit down and talk with Eddie Breitwiser, Director of pt.fwd, a local nonprofit, and Stefen Robinson, staff advisor for the NCHS Experimental Music Ensemble. Both Eddie and Stefen have a passion for music in all forms and want to encourage students to try new things and enjoy the process.Learn more at https://www.ptfwd.org/

This week's guest is Nicole Corrigan, a Paraprofessional at our Regional Alternative School in Livingston County. Nicole's story is unique because she is a graduate of RAS and currently works there as a paraprofessional. She is also completing her bachelor's degree so that she can obtain her teaching license to teach in her own classroom at RAS. This full-circle story celebrates Nicole's success and the collective success of our RAS students.