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Thank You
Samantha Munks, a SOAR (Students Obtaining Achievement and Responsibility) high school teacher in Peru, pushes her students to be their best by inspiring them to dream and supporting them by meeting them at their level.
Thank You, Teachers
A tribute to education's local heroes
Illinois Valley/Shaw Local News Network
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Thank You
Now in her third year at Marseilles Elementary, Cheyenne Timm is known for creating a welcoming, hands-on classroom environment that prepares students academically while helping them build the skills and confidence they’ll need for middle school.
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Illinois Valley
Read our letters submitted by students and parents to The Times for our 2025 Thank You Teachers special edition
Illinois Valley
Read our letters submitted by students and parents to News Tribune for our 2025 Thank You Teachers special edition
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Thank You Teachers: Illinois Valley
DePue’s John Beatty, science teacher and coach for over 30 years, has found right track in education
In a career of more than 30 years, John Beatty has taught and coached in schools big and small. Through it all he's enjoyed the interactions with students and 'pushing them to be the best they can be in the classroom as well as on the athletic field."
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Thank You
There are teachers who just do their job, and then there are teachers like Woodland’s Lisa Jackson who change people’s lives.
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Thank You
If you ask Hall High School’s science teacher Nicky Barto what advice she would give to her students about their future career, it would be this:
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Thank You
Margo Cartwright will retire from Jefferson Elementary School in Princeton at the end of the school year.
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Thank You
Putnam County High School art teacher Joshua Curry believes cultivating a student’s creativity is important. He has a way of encouraging risk taking and instilling confidence in students.
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Thank You Teachers
Steve Amy knew he wanted to be a coach one day, growing up in a house with a father who was a multi-sport coach and teacher. He just didn’t know he wanted to teach. He said once he started teaching at Princeton, "it was a lot of fun. We have great kids here. Makes it easy.”
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Illinois Valley
Ohio Grade School's Linda Downey has been a teacher for 28 years – 20 of them in a first grade classroom.
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Thank You
Teaching dual credit courses for Illinois Valley Community College puts Vince Brolley back in high school, where he feels right at home.
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Thank You
La Salle-Peru High School's Nancy Kochis class is the only of its kind offered at L-P, covering a wide range of topics including fingerprinting, fiber analysis, arson, trace evidence analysis and blood spatter patterns.