When Kildeer-Countryside Elementary District 96 opens its first full-day kindergarten class this fall, someone who would want to watch the results will be missing.
Not a mom, not a child and not a teacher — the School Board member who, according to district leaders, was instrumental in pushing it through.
Lauren Gordon died on Feb. 2 at age 55 of complications from breast cancer, school officials said. She was first elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2015. Those who knew her said she made three major imprints on the district in her short time as one of its leaders.
Marc Tepper, the board’s president, said Gordon pushed for improved special education, the weaving of social-emotional learning into the schools’ daily activities, and full-day kindergarten.
“She pushed the board to do a lot of soul-searching,” Tepper said. “It was a little uncomfortable for us. She really pushed the board to be better.”
A former executive director of branches of the Jewish Community Center, Gordon was also a board member for Congregation Beth Judea in Long Grove.
Rabbi Jeff Pivo of Beth Judea said Gordon battled and beat breast cancer about two years ago, until it returned in an aggressive form this fall.
“We’re all just in shock about Lauren, how quickly her sickness turned lethal,” Pivo said.
Gordon and her husband, David, had two sons who went through District 96 schools, and Tepper said Lauren served as a PTO co-president before running for school board.
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Her surviving sons, Gabe and Ethan, lost their father last summer. He died after an open-heart surgery led to an infection.
“We’re taking it day by day,” said Darlene Gordon, Lauren’s sister-in-law. “Their lives will never be the same again.”
Pivo recalled speaking with both parents about their health concerns, and helping them make preparations for their two sons.
“We talked with them, in general terms, about what the road ahead would look like,” Pivo said. “They were not people who were fearful, but rather hopeful. I was talking with Lauren just two weeks ago, and she was making plans for her recovery.”
Tepper said Lauren Gordon pushed hard for the district’s special-education students. District 96 is now part of the Exceptional Learners Collaborative, a special education district set up in 2015 with Lincolnshire-Prairie View Elementary District 103 and Stevenson High School.
“She wanted to make sure that we didn’t forget those kids who needed more,” Tepper said.
Gordon owned Chicago Cubs season tickets, Tepper said, and loved listening to her younger son, Gabe, on Stevenson’s student radio station. Darlene Gordon described Lauren as “the Jewish center of the family,” and the hostess of most of their high holiday gatherings.
Gabe Gordon is also a newly crowned state champion. On Jan. 30, he helped the Stevenson bowling team defeat Lockport during the finals in Fairview Heights. In 60 rounds, the Patriots broke a state record, knocking down 13,361 pins.
Three days later, Gabe lost his mother.
“He came home, he saw his mom, of course they cheered together, and then of course she passed away,” Tepper said, his voice breaking up. “It’s very difficult for me to speak about this.”
“They came here as young parents,” Pivo said, “and stayed here the last 20-odd years.”
Though she could not attend meetings after October, Lauren Gordon remained a board member. Tepper said the board must now take applications for her replacement. Interested district residents must turn them in to the office, at Ivy Hall School, by Feb. 25. The appointee will serve until April 2017, when the seat will be up for election, he said.
By that time, Gordon’s third major effort with District 96 —full-day kindergarten — should be in full swing.
“She won’t see it, but she was a huge driving force behind that,” Tepper said.
A funeral service was held Feb. 4 in Long Grove.
Twitter: @RonnieAtPioneer