| CHICAGO -- Two of the metropolitan Chicago area’s finest Catholic School educators who work with children between birth and age eight have been selected as finalists for the 2006 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards. Kathy Eslinger, first grade teacher at Saint Clement School, 2524 N. Orchard St., Chicago, and Carol Switalla who is the Preschool teacher at Queen of Angels School, 4520 N. Western Ave., Chicago, are among a field of 22 finalists who exemplify the best practices of quality early childhood teaching: dedication, innovation, leadership, respect for children and their families, and commitment to professional growth. They work in preschools, home day care centers, childcare centers, Head Start programs, State Prekindergartens, and kindergarten through third-grade classrooms in public, private, and parochial schools in Cook County.
Five of these outstanding educators will be chosen to represent the best of the field, following a final application process that includes additional site visits and interviews by members of the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators. Those five representatives will be announced in April, and they will be honored at the 2006 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards luncheon ceremony later in May.
The Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards program is sponsored by the McCormick Tribune Foundation and the Dolores Kohl Education Foundation.
The Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago play a critical role in the life of the community by providing academic excellence and faith formation for students of many races, faiths and backgrounds in elementary and secondary schools in Cook and Lake counties. There are 218 elementary and 40 secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago. To locate a Catholic school in your area and learn more about Catholic education in Cook and Lake counties, visit the Office of Catholic Schools web page on the Archdiocese of Chicago web site at www.archchicago.org. |
