Leadership Matters June 2014

State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Chris Koch discusses educational leadership with the ISAL II class.

ISAL II graduates experience ‘life-changing’ transformation

work we do for our districts. The stress and demands for the job can be overwhelming and all-consuming. I am leaving ISAL II with additional tools that have made me a more effective educational leader. “More importantly, I am leaving ISAL II as a part of a network of individuals who are all committed to improving public education in Illinois and who are committed to supporting each other.” ISAL was developed and is sponsored by IASA with the goal being to create a new level of public education leadership in Illinois. “Given all of the challenges facing superintendents and public education in Illinois, we thought it was important to provide a unique opportunity through rigorous curriculum, training and experiences for those men and women who were willing to push themselves beyond what is expected of a superintendent,” said IASA Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark. The 19 superintendents who graduated as part of the ISAL II class included: Reilly, Benway, and Dr. Joseph Baily of Lincolnwood 74, Dr. Lori Bein of Arlington Heights 25, Kathy Countryman of Sycamore District 427, Lea Damisch of Marengo/Union 165, Dr. Debbie Ehlenburg of Alden Hebron 19, Anthony Galindo of Gibson City-Melvin Sibley CU 5, Dr. Jill Gildea of Fremont 79, Guy Gradert of Ridgeview 19, Christina Grant of Thompsonville CU 174, Dr. Dawn Green of Somonauk 432, Lori Harrison of Illini Central 189, Dr. Michael Lubelfeld of Deerfield 109,

By Michael Chamness IASA Director of Communications

Dr. Jamie Reilly has been an educator for 40 years and she has a rather interesting mantra when it comes to learning and professional development: “Forever green and growing…never ripe and rotten.” That motto succinctly sums up why Reilly signed up for two years of additional research, training, homework and learning as part of the second class of the IASA School for Advanced Leadership (ISAL). Nineteen superintendents from all over the state recently completed a rigorous two-year cohort. Many of them have been educators for more than a quarter century; all of them were looking to go farther and higher in the pursuit of excellence. “Truly, this experience was one of the most beneficial in my 40 years as an educator,” said Reilly, superintendent of Maercker 60 in DuPage County. “This class has kept me very green, and my dendrites have grown exponentially!” Other ISAL II graduates described the experience in terms that included “the power of collaboration,” “purposeful research,” and even “life-changing.” “Certainly many of us [ISAL II cohort members] experienced personal life changing events during the two years of the ISAL II program. For me, the ISAL II program, itself, was my life changing event, both on a personal and professional level,“ said Dr. Darcy Benway, superintendent of O’Fallon Township 203. “As superintendents we are often isolated in the

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