Kinnikinnick Education Association

05/10/2026

Congratulations to Jennifer Sanderson on being selected as the 2026 Rockford Symphony Orchestra’s music educator of the year! Her passion and love of music fills the halls of Stone Creek and Ledgewood Schools!!! 🎶👏🥳

03/02/2026

This week is National SEL Week! To celebrate, we’re honoring SEL Superstars (educators who do an incredible job incorporating Social-Emotional Learning into their work) every day!

Today, we’re celebrating Tina Kalas, a Learning Specialist at Ledgewood School School in the Kinnikinnick School District! 🎉

“Tina is an SEL superstar for so many reasons! Some of those include the way that she teaches students how to utilize various self-regulation tools, the way she organizes our whole-school live announcements, and the collaborative relationship that she has with staff in order to implement strategies within the classroom setting!”

Great job, Tina! Thank you for all you do!

02/13/2026

A special shoutout to one of our incredible 3rd grade teachers, Crystal Ellis, for being chosen as IDEA Teacher of the Year! Crystal was nominated and chosen for this award, because she is passionate about incorporating/advancing technology in the classroom!! Congratulations, Crystal 🥳🎉!!!

02/06/2026

🎉 Big shout-out to an amazing RMS teacher! 🌟

02/03/2026

Join us in celebrating Amy Kuo, another one of our Golden Apple Top 20 finalists! 🍎
Best of luck throughout the entire journey, Amy. We’re all cheering you on!!! 💛

Teacher: Amy Kuo
Subject: 4th-8th grade Multilingual/English Learners
School: Roscoe Middle School
Teaching experience: 7 at RMS, 16 total
What did a nominator or recommender say about this teacher?
• “Amy is deeply committed to excellence, passionately dedicated to her students and consistently operates at the highest level of professional practice.” – a supervisor’s letter of recommendation
• “Amy demonstrates genuine compassion, empathy and understanding. She incorporates fun, engaging, and age-appropriate learning activities that always prioritizes the student’s best interests. This dedication is so profound that even when her students achieve proficiency and graduate from needing EL support, they often don’t want to leave the program because they love seeing her. She holds necessary space for mental health issues, acknowledging the challenges of entering a new culture, and she encourages students to write about these transformative experiences. Her exceptional teaching strategies ensure our district consistently surpasses the Illinois Exit Rate for EL learners.
What does this teacher say? “I have made a commitment to helping my students think deeply, even in the early stages of English language development. Higher-order thinking promotes deep engagement and critical thinking, and this should be celebrated and accessible at all language levels. Each reading strategy taught or English phrase mastered can bring students one step closer to changing the trajectory of their lives or increasing the size of their dreams.”
What else do we know? Amy currently has students from four continents. “They each deserve to learn in spaces that feel as welcoming as possible.” She, and interpreters she secures for parent teacher conferences, do a lot of translating so that students’ families can understand how their children are doing in school and be part of their educational journeys. In 2025, her middle school colleagues voted her “Most Calm Presence: For Remaining Calm & Patient in Stressful Times.”

02/03/2026

✨ Meet one of our Golden Apple Top 20 finalists, Dana Freedlund! ✨
We’re so excited to celebrate Dana and wish her the very best throughout the entire process. Good luck, Dana—we’re all rooting for you! 🍎💛

01/23/2026

Wow! Another one of our amazing educators, Jennifer Sanderson, was featured on Good Day Stateline a few days ago!!

01/19/2026

Take a look at our very own Julie Wiest on Good Day Stateline last week!!

05/05/2025

Thank you to all of our amazing teachers!

04/13/2025

Compassion and hard work are a lifestyle. Gayle was a busy bee as a teacher and continues to prove that one doesn’t have to fade away in retirement. Congratulations, Gayle Shedd Haab! Thank you for being YOU!

Haab taught for 35 years and serves on the Hononegah school board.