When Kim Payton first stepped into a District 54 school, she was just a child.
She attended Updyke School, a small school that sat south of town on West Southmor Road.
She then went on to attend Shabbona Junior High School and, later, graduated from Mazon-Verona-Kinsman High School.
Today, only one of those schools still exist — Shabbona Junior High. When Payton walks the halls there now, however, she is walking them as principal, instead of as a student.
During Monday night's regular board meeting, the district hired Payton to replace Sheryl Dzuryak, who retired at the end of the just-completed school year.
"We have total confidence in Kim," Superintendent Teri Shaw said. "We didn't need to look outside our district; we knew we had the person here that could fill it."
Payton, who was moved from assistant principal to principal, will receive a salary of $79,478.
A native of Morris, Payton now lives in Joliet, where she first worked for Guardian Angel Home and then in District 86.
"Working with children and families at Guardian Angel Home peaked my interest in working with schools," Payton said. "I have a passion for kids.
She first came back to the halls of Shabbona as a school social worker in 1990, and later moved to assistant principal and athletic director in 2000.
"It wasn't my goal at the time I came here to become principal," she said. "Eventually, I looked at it as a way to have an impact on the bigger picture, not just the individual student."
As athletic director, she was responsible for coordinating extracurricular activities and, as an assistant principal, her duties included disciplinary actions, scheduling and the initiation of step-up day for students.
"My first goal as principal is to search for a new assistant principal and athletic director, finding someone who is a good fit for our school," she said.
Other goals include keeping a safe environment for all the students, and working with staff on areas they can improve.
While Shabbona has always housed special population classes, beginning with the coming school year, the classes and their teachers will be under the principal instead of the Grundy County Special Education Cooperative.
Payton said she has complete faith in the new director of special populations, who has been hard at work finding staff to fill the classrooms.
When asked about the differences from when she was a student, Payton said there are many.
"So many more possibilities for kids today, it's so different now," she said. "There is a philosophy of give-and-take now and there is a lot to be said for kids having a voice."
She hopes to continue to challenge the students and teach them how to think.
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