Ignite Team Bios

Home Parish:

St. Jude Catholic Church

Family and School History:

Peoria is my hometown. I attended Holy Family Catholic School and one semester at Bergan High School. My father worked for Caterpillar, so we moved a bit when I was in high school and college to Melbourne, Australia, and Tokyo, Japan. I attended Loretto Convent, Mandeville Hall in Melbourne, Australia, for three years. I returned to the United States to complete high school at St. Mary's Academy with the Sisters of St. Benedict. I attended Beloit College, Northwestern University (Bs.Ed.), and Temple University (MS. Ed Special Education).

My husband, Rich, and I have three children. Katie and her husband, Charles, live in Baton Rouge with their two daughters, Lydia and Juliet. Katie landed in Baton Rouge with Teach for America. She currently leads a program she developed for Junior and Senior honor students. Our son, Charlie, lives and works in Peoria. Charlie attended Loras College and Western Illinois University. He is active in multiple sports, especially ultimate frisbee. Anna and her husband, David, live in Chicago. Anna also served in Baton Rouge with Teach for America. She is currently a therapist at the University of Chicago Laboratory School.

Career and Volunteer Affiliations:

Most of my career has been in Special Education. I spent a brief time in Tokyo teaching second grade. After graduate school, I taught junior high and high school in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Experience at Deerfield High School included positions in the Special Education Department as a teacher and eventually as the Special Education Department Chair.

We moved to Peoria in 1983. I spent thirteen years as a stay-at-home mother with our three children. Eventually, I took a teaching position with the Special Education Association of Peoria County.

My tenure with SEAPCO included ten years as a Special Education teacher at Wilder Waite School in Dunlap and ten years as a Learning and Behavior Consultant in SEAPCO's central office. My first five years as a consultant were as an external coach with the Illinois MTSS Network. Our team spent four years of training and supporting Peoria County Public Schools in the Multi-Tiered System of Support concepts and team development. After that, I consulted with general education and special education teachers about learning and behavior concerns. I also provided professional development to our county schools for inclusion, disability awareness, and IEP development.

In 2016, I retired from SEAPCO. Having served on the St. Jude Catholic School Commission for six years during St. Jude Catholic School's development phase, I was fortunate to join their faculty in August 2016 as the Intervention Specialist. I am certified in the Orton-Gillingham Approach to Reading Instruction and serve our children diagnosed with Learning Disabilities and Auditory Processing Disorders.

My volunteer experiences are varied. Community involvement includes board member positions for Lakeview Museum and the Center for Prevention of Abuse and Educational Surrogate Parent for Wards of the State. For two years, I served as a mentor in the St. Vincent de Paul Society program Coming Together to Get Ahead. I have recently been a facilitator for courses developed by Just Faith Ministries. Other volunteer positions at St. Jude include co-chair of Women of St. Jude, CCD teacher (5^th and 2^nd grades), Academic Task Force for Strategic Planning Chair, Eucharistic Minister, and Extraordinary Minister of Communion for our sick and homebound parishioners. I am privileged to be a part of our Parish Leadership Team.

Reasons for serving on Ignite Team:

My work experience in education has always been motivated by personal relationships and initiatives for children who require equitable programming access. Allowing disabled children to experience and participate in Catholic education is the dream of all Catholic families with a disabled child. The opportunity to serve on the Ignite Team is a tremendous privilege. I support the goals and values of the Fire Foundation and look forward to seeing its mission take root in the Diocese of Peoria.