June 02, 2025
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Plano School District 88 team attends Illinois summit

Pictured from left are, back row: Tony Baker, superintendent; Joy Haddock, fourth-grade teacher; Courtney Finnie, fifth-grade teacher; Mary Rose Coker, instructional coach; Brett Spratley, instructional coach; front row: Faith Skinner, instructional coach; Missy Crisci, instructional coach; Laurel Mateyka, principal at P.H. Miller; Pam Reilly, instructional coach; and Laura Smith, third-grade teacher. (Photo provided)

Plano School District 88 sent a team to the Illinois Teach to Lead Summit.

Teams of educators from school districts, universities and partner organizations from across the state of Illinois submitted a proposal outlining a problem of practice that they wished to address through teacher leadership. Plano's plan focused on developing a plan to strengthen the basic math skills of students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The Illinois Teacher Leadership Network then selected 30 proposals from districts across the state and invited the teams to the summit.

The summit allowed participating teachers, principals, districts and supporting organizations to share ideas and best practices and learn from examples of existing teacher leadership efforts. The teams identified common challenges and created concrete, actionable teacher leadership plans to address them locally.

The Plano team was able to network and build relationships with other educators and leaders in their region.