2007 Finalists

Twenty-three Educators Named as Finalists for the
2007 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards

CHICAGO -- Twenty-three of metropolitan Chicago’s finest educators who work with children between birth and age eight have been selected as finalists for the 2007 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards. The finalists exemplify the best practices of quality early childhood teaching: dedication, innovation, leadership, respect for children and their families, and commitment to professional growth. They work in preschools, home day care centers, childcare centers, Head Start programs, State Prekindergartens, and kindergarten through third-grade classrooms in public, private, and parochial schools in Cook County.

The process began last fall when an esteemed committee of leaders in the field of early childhood education conducted site visits and selected 23 outstanding teachers as finalists for this award. Five of these outstanding educators will be chosen to represent the best of the field, following a final application process that includes additional site visits and interviews by members of the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators. Those five representatives will be announced in April, and they will be honored at the 2007 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards luncheon ceremony on Tuesday, June 5, at the Westin River North in Chicago.

Each of the five representatives will receive:

  • A $5,000 cash award
  • A $1,000 cash award for the winner's school or center
  • A classroom visit from the Kohl McCormick StoryBus, providing hands-on learning for early literacy
  • A classroom field trip at the Kohl Children's Museum of Greater Chicago
  • A day of professional development from the Kohl Children's Museum of Greater Chicago
  • A graduate-level course at Chicago's renowned Erikson Institute
Each is also inducted into the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators. While there are numerous teaching awards in the United States, the Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards is the first awards program to formally recognize the contributions of teachers working with children from infancy through third grade. In its twelfth year, the Kohl McCormick Awards program has become a model for recognition of outstanding early childhood educators.

“While education reform debates continue at a local and national level, we must remember that our early education teachers are the ones who lay the foundations for literacy and prepare children for success in school,” says Sara Slaughter, education program director of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. “The Kohl McCormick Teaching Award winners accomplish this by teaching and nurturing our youngest learners each day. The McCormick Tribune Foundation applauds these winning teachers.”

“It’s remarkable the difference a quality educator can make in the development of a young child, and in shaping how a parent helps their child develop,” observes Debbie Appelbaum, director of education of the Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards. “We hope that this awards program helps demonstrate to parents everywhere what they should be looking for when searching for an educational partner for their young child, while at the same time recognizing those outstanding educators for all they’ve done for their students and families, and the greater Chicago community in which they live.”

The Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards program is sponsored by the McCormick Tribune Foundation and the Dolores Kohl Education Foundation. Since 2000, the education program of the McCormick Tribune Foundation has committed more than $40 million in resources and expertise to improve the quality of early childhood education in the metropolitan Chicago area.

Finalists – 2007 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards

Gloria Arango
Darwin Elementary (Logan Square, Chicago)
3116 W. Belden Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
Second Grade

Lucy Barraza
Ortiz de Dominguez (Little Village, Chicago)
3000 S. Lawndale
Chicago, IL 60623
First Grade – NAEYC Accredited

Clifola Coleman
Centers for New Horizons/Washington Park South (Hyde Park, Chicago)
6225 S. Wabash
Chicago, IL 60637
State Pre-K & Head Start – NAEYC Accredited

Alejandra De La Pena
Lloyd Elementary (Austin, Chicago)
2103 N. Lamon Ave
Chicago, IL 60639
Head Start

Khadijat Enessy
Baby Toddler Nursery
2200 Main St
Evanston, IL 60202
Child Care Center (Birth – 3 years old) – NAEYC Accredited

Tracy Fisher
Peirce School of Intl Studies (Andersonville, Chicago)
1423 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.
Chicago, IL 60660
State Pre-K – NAEYC Accredited

Adelina E. Flores
Albany Park Community Center East (Albany Park, Chicago)
5101 N. Kimball
Chicago, IL 60625
Head Start & Child Care Center – NAEYC Accredited

Elizabeth Grelle
Frances Xavier Warde School (Near North, Chicago)
751 N. State St.
Chicago, IL 60610
Kindergarten – NAEYC Accredited

Sarah Groth
Namaste Charter School (McKinley Park, Chicago)
3540 S. Hermitage Ave.
Chicago, IL 60609
Kindergarten

Zenia Jaimes
Hull House Association (Uptown West, Chicago)
4520 N. Beacon
Chicago, IL 60640
State Pre-K, Head Start, & Child Care Center – NAEYC Accredited

Lenore Johnson
Home Sweet Home Childcare (North Park, Chicago)
5810 N. Christiana Ave.
Chicago, IL 60659
Family Child Care Home (Birth – 5 years) – NAFCC Accredited

Rachel Kiessling
Hedges Elementary School (Back of the Yards, Chicago)
4747 S. Winchester Ave.
Chicago, IL 60609
State Pre-K – NAEYC Accredited

Michael Kruse
Passages Charter School (Uptown, Chicago)
1447 W. Montrose Ave.
Chicago, IL 60613
Third Grade

Dianne Laing
Hull House Uptown Head Start (Uptown, Chicago)
1020 W. Bryn Mawr
Chicago, IL 60660
Head Start – NAEYC Accredited

Beryl McCanton
Caring Hands Nursery
1712 Greenwood
Evanston, IL 60201
Head Start & Family Child Care Home (Birth – 4) - NAFCC Accredited

Lyda McKay-Tejeda
Eyes on the Future (Rogers Park, Chicago)
6969 N. Ravenswood Ave.
Chicago, IL 60626
State Pre-K & Child Care Center - NAEYC Accredited

Norma Oquendo
Chicago Commons Guadalupano Family Center (Pilsen, Chicago)
1814 S. Paulina
Chicago, IL 60618
Head Start - NAEYC Accredited

Marta Ostrowska
St. Ferdinand School (Portage Park, Chicago)
3131 N. Mason Ave
Chicago, IL 60634
Preschool - NAEYC Accredited

Ann Rappelt
Child Care Center of Evanston
1840 Asbury Ave
Evanston, IL 60201
Child Care Center - NAEYC Accredited

Kristin Rasmusson
Christopher House (Uptown, Chicago)
4303 N. Kenmore
Chicago, IL 60613
State Pre-K, Head Start, & Child Care Center – NAEYC Accredited

Renee Rosenbusch
St. Monica School (Big Oaks, Chicago)
5115 N. Mont Clare Ave.
Chicago, IL 6065
Kindergarten

Sandra Smith
Stockton Child Parent Center (Andersonville, Chicago)
4423 N. Magnolia
Chicago, IL 60640
State Pre-K

Bernadette Tomasik-Kelly
Fairview School
7040 Laramie
Skokie, IL 60077
Kindergarten