Peoria Standard

The Peoria School District Board celebrated their annual "Those Who Excel" award recipients during their meeting held on March 13.

Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat led the Board in honoring the recipients of the winning and second-place "Volunteer of the Year" award and the winning and second-place "Team of the Year" recipients. The volunteer category includes any non-district employee who donated their time and effort to some part of the district. The team category focuses on groups of people who positively impact each other and the district as a whole. Winners are nominated by peers, coworkers, teachers and other district members. The award winners were subsequently entered into the broader "Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Those Who Excel" award program.

2023's "Volunteer of the Year" was Meg Tomlins, who volunteers with the "Lights On" after-school program, which holds events for high school students on Friday and Saturday evenings while providing dinner and working to improve school culture for students. Tomlins is in charge of running the events, planning them and providing financial support. Her associates have lauded her for her positive attitude, work ethic and dedication to feeding the district's students. The runner-up for the award was "Grandma" Rose Price, who volunteers at C.T. Vivian Primary School.

2023's "Team of the Year" went to the Justice Advocates (Michael Grayer, Marla Marbley, Corbin Parker, Alicia Scott, Emily Walls and Kale Young) of the Wraparound Center. The team's goal is to improve district graduation rates and long-term outcomes for students who had fallen into the criminal justice system. The team members work individually with students to help them achieve graduation and meet their future career and education goals while also providing social and emotional support. The runner-up for the award was Goodwill Teen REACH of Harold B. Dawson Junior High.

"They have a positive impact on students socially, in assisting them with developing positive relationships, becoming trusted adults in the lives of the students," said Desmoulin-Kherat. "So they're kind of like a mentor, a parent. And the team currently works with 152 students, and 67% of their students have not been criminally re-offended, so that's good. They're on the straight and narrow road. The Justice Advocates have reduced the barriers to our students who have been in the juvenile justice system, and they've helped a lot of the kids, all of those kids, to turn their lives around and go on to be successful and productive members of society."