Kishwaukee Education Consortium teacher named "Hero in the Classroom"

MALTA – Acceptance is the overwhelming theme of the teaching methods of Tony Martin, a U.S. history teacher at the Kishwaukee Education Consortium, according to one of his colleagues.

“Students feel safe to push themselves in new ways academically and personally,” KEC Counselor Rebecca Boltz said. “They find personal and educational identities, they feel validated, they feel valued, and they feel worthy. And that, for any person of any age let alone an at-risk teenager, is of value beyond measure.”

That's one of many reasons Boltz nominated Martin for Heroes in the Classroom, a special program presented by Naperville-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and the Chicago Bears which recognizes 16 Chicago-area teachers for their outstanding leadership and instructional skills.

Event sponsors were at the school Wednesday to present the award, much to the surprise of Martin, who was kept in the dark about the entire process.

Martin will get a $2,000 donation to his classroom, two tickets to a regular season Bears game, in-game video recognition and pre-game VIP sideline experience, a football signed by Bears linebacker Leonard Floyd, and a Bears jersey with his name on it.

"I'm the luckiest person on Earth to get to come here every day," Martin said. "This is incredible."

The Kishwaukee Education Consortium provides an alternative education program for at-risk middle and high school students in DeKalb and Rochelle. These students are often referred to the school for credit deficiencies, truancy, multiple suspensions, or lack of overall success in their public school environment.

In her nomination, Boltz highlighted the 2016 election as a time during which Martin excelled in his ability to make students of different genders, races, socio-economic statuses and political leanings more comfortable around each other. She said the day after the election, Martin’s classroom was a safe space for students to freely share thoughts and reactions.

“What Tony was able to accomplish was an environment where all of these students could come together, feel validated in their reactions and maintain respect for each other,” Boltz said in her nomination form. “Following this day at school, students took to social media to express how they no longer felt scared, because their teacher helped them feel secure in their feelings and comfortable with conflicting views.”

Martin has also been able to integrate student interests into the understanding of a subject. He developed a class that incorporated hip-hop music with the study of philosophy. Principal Tim Furnas has already called this class a success, based on the number of students asking to enroll in it.

“He’s a musician, so for him, it was kind of natural to take hip-hop lyrics and create lessons in philosophy, which is pretty deep for students to think of, but he put a tag on it that brightens students’ interests,” Furnas said. “He’s a really good influence and a strong asset on our staff.”