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Minooka CHSD 111 honors student journalists and staff, superintendent highlights Five Essentials gains
Summary
At the May 20 meeting the board recognized IHSA All-State journalism students and named Michelle Erickson staff member of the year; district staff reported improved Five Essentials survey results with increased student and teacher response rates and gains in instructional measures.
The Minooka Community High School District 111 board opened its May 20 meeting with recognitions and a presentation of the district's Five Essentials survey results.
Board Chair (Speaker 4) called student news adviser Matt Thomas to the podium to honor TV-news students Zach Vega and Natalie Andrews for earning IHSA Journalism All-State recognition; Thomas said the students produced and edited a short television package under a tight time constraint and "they did a heck of a job." The board also presented a staff member of the year award to Michelle Erickson, who thanked colleagues and family and described teaching as "a calling" during brief remarks.
Later in the meeting a district staff member (Speaker 2) reviewed the Five Essentials survey, reporting a student response rate of 87%, teacher response rate of 86% and parent response rate of 24%. The staff member said the district saw notable increases in student perceptions of math instruction (+12 points) and English instruction (+9 points), and an across-the-board rise in measures such as academic press (+6) and quality of student discussion. The presenter emphasized those improvements while noting several measures remain neutral and that the district will continue work on areas such as program coherence and teacher influence on budget decisions.
The chair framed the recognitions as celebrations of school culture and community support. The staff member tied the survey gains to recent changes such as new scheduling and professional-development efforts, cautioning that some figures (for example, recent ACT scoring) remain uncertain while district staff continue to analyze results.
The board moved from recognitions into routine business and the meeting proceeded to contract approvals and personnel actions later in the agenda.
