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Westerhold driven by desire to educate all children
By Michael Chamness
IASA Director of Communications
Jane L. Beyer Westerhold vividly remembers
being a 26-year-old rookie principal at a school
where 85 percent of the students qualified for the
free or reduced lunch program. During the winter
months a second-grader named Sean would
knock on her office window each day before the
building was open and she would let him in to
warm up.
“He would often pull out a dried-up biscuit for
breakfast,” she recalled. “I think about him to this
day. I don’t want kids to feel like we have not done
all we can to help them. Children like Sean need
us; they need good public schools.”
Westerhold has dedicated her 35-year career
in public education to providing educational
opportunities for all students, efforts that
culminated in her recently being named the Illinois
Superintendent of the Year.
In her eighth year as superintendent at Des
Plaines Community Consolidated School District
62, Westerhold has overseen several major
improvements, including reducing by half the so-
called poverty achievement gap from 28 to 14
percent despite the fact that the percentage of low
-income students in the district rose from 28 to 45
percent during the eight years. Other notable
achievements include:
•
Overseeing the successful completion of a
“Master Plan” that included a $109 million
school facilities upgrade and the opening last
year of a new Early Learning Center.
(Continued on page 17)
Dr. Westerhold and her husband, Dr. Kenneth Cull
Name:
Jane L. Beyer Westerhold
School district:
Des Plaines Community Consolidated
School District 62
One thing you would like people to know about your
school district:
Our district is one of the best-kept secrets
in the Chicago suburban area.
IASA Region:
Cook North
Years on IASA Board:
4 years
Years as educator:
35
High School:
Staunton High School
Colleges or Universities:
Illinois State University, 1972-
1975; Southern Illinois University
-Edwardsville, B.S. 1977
and M.S. 1980; St. Louis University, 1984
-
1990; Loyola
University Chicago, Ed.D. 2001
Family:
Married to Dr. Kenneth L. Cull (also a
superintendent); daughter Emily Jane Westerhold (27)
married to Sebastian Rymarz (28) living in San Francisco (I
was Sebastian’s principal from 1st through 5th grade);
stepdaughter Jami married to Dr. Andrew Patrick with one
daughter, Melis (4) and living in Abu Dhabi; stepson Ian
married to Heather with 3 children, Stone (5), Brooklyn (2)
and Savannah (2 months) living in Chicago
Favorite hobby:
Cooking and entertaining, diningwithjane
daily digital newspaper, have blogged personal restaurant
reviews, serious cookbook collection, and hundreds of
cooking magazines free to anyone who wants them.
Favorite movie:
I don’t like to pick favorite movies. If I had
to name one that I watch every year and never get tired of,
it would be “It’s a Wonderful Life.” In fact, Emily gave me a
picture of the Bailey family that hangs in our living room
every holiday season.
Favorite book:
I prefer non-fiction and do not have one
favorite. I am a serious audio book geek. I have just
finished How Children Succeed by Paul Tough and The
Advantage by Patrick Lencioni.
Favorite musical artist:
I have over 6000 songs on my
iTunes and could never pick a favorite. My father is a
musician so I grew up surrounded by music. Playing the
piano and other instruments went with learning to read.
One thing people probably would be surprised to know
about you:
Between my first and second year of teaching,
I wanted to make extra money to join a club. I was hired as
an electrician apprentice and helped wire the lights in the
Famous Barr Department Store in Alton Square Mall.
Biggest concern about public education:
How to meet
the needs of the growing population of students living
below the poverty line.
Most encouraging thing about public education:
As
Horace Mann stated in 1846, “Education, then, beyond all
other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the
conditions of men.” This is as true today as it was then. We
continue to provide opportunities for children who would
not otherwise have a chance.
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