Practically every student at Murphy Elementary School in Round Lake Park takes Jacob Wollner’s science, technology, engineering and math class at some point.
Five years ago, Wollner leapt at the chance to teach STEM to more than 450 students from first through fifth grade.
On Wednesday night, Wollner was recognized for his impact on students and his passion for the teaching profession, as the Lake County Regional Office of Education named him Lake County’s Educator of the Year.
“We’re teaching 21st century skills, science, technology, engineering and math; a lot of careers moving forward are STEM-based,” Wollner told the New-Sun before a surprise celebration at Murphy Elementary Thursday in his honor. “I think my passion for the subject and how I feel about it is conveyed to the students, and my co-workers see the students come back proud, and happy, and engaged in what they’ve done.”
Wollner was one of 10 educators to take home an award, as close to 700 teachers, paraprofessionals, support staff and administrators gathered at the Lake County Fairgrounds to honor educators in the second year of the annual event.
As the eldest among his siblings and cousins, Wollner explained he has been a teacher by default since he was much younger. He initially studied engineering, “because science and math kind of speaks to me,” but midway through his degree pursuit, he decided to move into education. He taught in Arizona before taking a job teaching fifth grade at Murphy.
” (Then), five years ago, here comes this STEM program,” Wollner explained. “I’m like, wait a second, engineering and teaching? Yes, please.”
In commenting about getting the honor in front of hundreds of peers Wednesday, he said, “I think it’s kind of reaffirming what I do, and the importance of what I do. And it makes me feel good to know that people are noticing it.”
The event, which drew the likes of Illinois Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders, Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart, County Clerk Anthony Vega and District 15 County Board member Jennifer Clark, who teaches economics at Carthage College, was a sort of a teacher’s version of the Academy Awards.
Though there was no red carpet, a tangible mix of excitement, anticipation and camaraderie was present in a buzzing crowd of educators, many of them catching up with old colleagues.
Lake County Regional Superintendent of Schools Michael Karner, whose office organized the event, called the county, “the place to be” for a good education.
“We have the best schools in the state; some of the best schools in the country,” Karner told the crowd.
Among the winners was North Chicago District 187 Superintendent John Price, who joined the district in 2017, and Emily Harris, a fifth grade teacher at Howe Elementary in Beach Park District 3.
Harris, who took the stage with disbelief after winning in the early education and elementary school educator of the year category, is wrapping up her final year as a teacher before retirement.
“I was stunned,” Harris said. “That heroes word, it’s thrown around a lot. I’m just doing what I love; doing what’s good for kids.”
Educator of the year winners in other categories included Jason Arneson, a middle school teacher in Lake Zurich District 95, Vernon Hills High School teacher Shawn Woodie in District 128 and Jessica Achtor, a Park West School multilingual teacher in District 46.
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Millburn District 24 Assistant Principal Kari Gedville was named administrator of the year, while Joshua Staples, the director of buildings and grounds at Grant Community High School in District 124, was the honoree in the educational service personnel category.
First-year early childhood teacher Citlalli Garcia of Affirm Leadership Christian Academy in Waukegan said being recognized as the teacher of the year in the private/parochial category “means a lot” as the school year winds down.
“I still can’t process everything. I’m just very excited,” Garcia said. “It means a lot, (after) all of the work.”
Early Career Educator of the Year winner Jake Scheuring, a kindergarten music teacher at Hawthorn School for Young Learners in District 73, was shocked to hear his name called toward the end of the event.
“It’s a huge honor to be recognized as a third-year teacher,” he said. “So I feel like I’ve been able to make a big impact, and it’s really cool to be seen.”
Scheuring enjoys getting to know each student who enters the district, as each of the school’s roughly 250 kindergartners have music class twice a week. A third-year teacher, he wrote a school fight song called “We Are Eagles” soon after starting the position, where he hopes to inspire the next generation of musicians.
“My job is instilling the love of music I received when I was their age,” Scheuring said.
Impacting Lake County’s youth positively was a common theme Wednesday, but it’s one that many teachers, like Garcia, seek to live out every day.
“I had very good teachers and very bad teachers,” Garcia said. “I was inspired by the good ones.”