B Y RANDY WHALEN For the Bugle
D. 202 teacher selected as iSBE Regional Teacher of the Year
John F. Kennedy Middle School eighth-grade Language Arts and Honors teacher Jennifer Gruca has been named the 2025 Illinois State Board of Education Far South Suburbs Regional Teacher of the Year, an honor recognizing her excellence in teaching and leadership and support of JFK’s learners.
Gruca is now one of 13 finalists for the Illinois Teacher of the Year Award which will be announced later this school year.
JFK Principal Amandeep Hundal and ISBE leaders surprised Gruca earlier this week with the announcement over a Zoom call.
“I was shocked,” Gruca said.
In her 21 years of teaching, Gruca has cultivated a classroom where students fall in love with writing and literature through innovative learning experiences mixed with students’ interests and the power of storytelling.
“She is an amazing teacher who allows students to express themselves in creative ways,” Hundal said.
The veteran teacher promotes literacy through local and global collaborations.
She developed a global
collaboration program connecting her ELA classes with students in Portugal, Türkiye, Albania, North Macedonia, and Moldova.
“I believe there is always something more to learn and grow as a researcher,”
Gruca said after winning the honor.
“There are places to explore.”
She also organizes workshops for all eighth-grade students at JFK led by artists, including songwriters, authors, motivational speakers, poets, and community members living in the Chicagoland area.
Gruca has received numerous honors in recognition of her teaching service, including a Teacher of the Month award presented by WGN Chicago News Television and the 2020 WE Teachers Award presented by Walgreens.
She is a proud Fellow with the Transatlantic Educators Dialogue (TED) Program and a Global Learning Fellow with the NEA Foundation where she just concluded her field study in Costa Rica in 2024.
“This honor means that I can continue to grow as an educator and have an opportunity to celebrate great teachers,” Gruca said.
Gruca was nominated by her mentor and current ISBE Illinois Teacher of the Year, Dr. Rachael Mahmood.
And now this honor puts Gruca in a cohort of teachers who are making a meaningful impact in Illinois schools.
“I am now looking forward to meeting the other recipients from Illinois to share and collaborate to strengthen practices and research in education and child development,” Gruca said.
ISBE received a record number of nominations and applications for the 2025 Teacher of the Year and Those Who Excel Awards.
Three Liberty Elementary School teachers are recipients of this year’s Those Who Excel Award and they include:
- April Benish, fourth-grade teacher, Award of Special Recognition
- Diane Demos Spielman, music teacher, Award of Meritorious Service
- Kimberly Collier-Jefferson, fourthgrade teacher, Award of Excellence
A committee of administrators, teachers, educational service personnel, student support personnel, and past Illinois Teachers of the Year selected this year’s awardees.
State Superintendent of Education
All awardees will be honored at the annual banquet on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Dr. Tony Sanders will select the 2025 Illinois Teacher of the Year from the finalists later this spring.
ADVERTISEMENT FOR BID
The Bolingbrook Park District will accept sealed bids for ‘Facilities Custodial Cleaning’ until 7:00 am, Thursday, March 10, 2025.
The proposed work consists of the provision of labor necessary to keep facilities organized.
As of 10:00 am, Friday, February 28, 2025, Bid Documents are available at the Buildings & Grounds Facility offices, 301 Recreation Drive, Bolingbrook, Illinois 60440, (630) 739-4696.
Bids will be publicly opened and read at 7:00 am, Monday, March 10, 2025 at the Buildings & Grounds Facility offices, 301 Recreation Drive, Bolingbrook, Illinois 60440. Bids received after this time will be returned unopened. No oral proposals or modifications will be considered. Thr park district reserves the right to reject any and/ or all bids, to waive any informality, and to accept the bid that is in the best interest of the Bolingbrook Park District. All contracts for the cleaning service must comply with the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (820 ILCS 130/1-12), if applicable.
Published in the Bugle February, 27 2025
LEGAL N o T i CE
Red Cross, partners to install free Smoke alarms in Joliet and Romeoville
Red Cross volunteers and local partners will join together on Saturday, March 1 to install free smoke alarms for local families vulnerable to home fires during a Sound the Alarm event in Romeoville and Joliet.
This effort is part of a national Red Cross Sound the Alarm initiative to install 50,000 free smoke alarms in at-risk communities across the country. Having a working smoke alarm cuts the risk of dying in a home fire in half. To date, our home fire campaign has helped save 2,266 lives nationally. Of those lives saved, 45 were in Illinois.
“A working smoke alarm can be the difference between survival and tragedy when a home fire strikes,” said Rodrigo Carillo, Regional Disaster Officer for the Red Cross of Illinois. “That’s why the Red Cross is teaming up with community partners including the Joliet Fire Department and the Romeoville Fire Department to help ensure residents, especially those most vulnerable, have these lifesaving devices.”
IF YOU NEED A SMOKE ALARM
Residents in Joliet and Romeoville who need assistance can visit SoundTheAlarm.org or click here to schedule an appointment for a free smoke alarm installation during this Red Cross Sound the Alarm event on March 1. During the 20-minute home visits, Red Cross volunteers will also share information on the causes of home fires, how to prevent them, what to do if a fire starts and how to create an escape plan.
IF YOU’D LIKE TO VOLUNTEER
People can register to install free smoke alarms and share fire safety information with residents during a local Sound the Alarm event in Joliet on Saturday, March 1, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. No prior experience is needed. Training will be provided at the Red Cross of Illinois River Valley Chapter located at 1293 Windham Parkway, Romeoville, IL before the volunteer teams, with members of the Red Cross, visit area homes who have previously scheduled appointments. Because of generous donations, all services are free and available for people in need. Can’t join the event? Help by donating to the Red Cross at SoundTheAlarm.org to
help people prepare for, respond to, and recover from home fires — which account for most of the U.S. disasters that the Red Cross responds to every eight minutes. This work is made possible thanks to generous financial
donations from corporate partners: State Farm, Motorola Solutions Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Peoples Gas Community Fund, Harrah’s Joliet Casino & Hotel, USG, and CITGO Lemont Refinery.
