Lizzy Carroll ’17 hated high school. Her attendance was dismal, and she felt completely unmotivated to try. But then, two educators personally connected with Carroll during her junior year at Carl Sandburg High School in southwest suburban Chicago, and everything changed.
“They took a genuine interest in what I liked to do, why I wasn’t coming to school, and what was going on in my personal life that was affecting my academics so much,” said Carroll, referencing special education teacher Micki Bohac and paraprofessional Patrick Latortue. “I was thrown off, like, ‘Why would they care so much?’ They completely transformed my whole perspective on education.”
A graduate of Illinois State University’s College of Education, Carroll is now in her sixth year as a special education teacher at Clara Barton Elementary School in south Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood where she is working tirelessly to make similar, personally impactful connections with each of her students.
“As teachers, we’re fostering these future leaders and building these skills, and I think that’s the most powerful job in the world,” Carroll said. “These building blocks are our students’ foundations for whatever they’re going to become. And hopefully they’re going to be leaders and changemakers who can contribute to this impactful cycle.”
Carroll’s efforts extend beyond the walls and hours of Barton. She has immersed herself in her students’ neighborhood, and in 2020, founded a nonprofit organization, Lead With Love, which “puts love into action to combat social injustices youth face relating to mental health, physical health, education, and exposure.”
As a first-semester Illinois State senior in 2016, Carroll experienced the power of, and necessity for, being a community-engaged, culturally responsive educator in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the nation’s fourth-largest school district.
Through the Department of Special Education’s (SED) Chicago Field-Based Experience program, which precedes a candidate’s final semester of full-time student teaching, Carroll lived in southwest Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood and spent four days a week at Curie Metro High School where she observed and taught. She also attended weekly classes led by field-based program coordinator Ashley Wolinski-Norton ’07, an Illinois State clinical assistant professor.
“I think something really unique and special within CPS is we work hard to place candidates in the closest community to where they’re living, because we really believe in community-based educators who can get involved in that community,” Wolinski-Norton said. “That way they can provide outreach, get to know their students’ families, and get to know the assets within the communities and neighborhoods.”
“I think something really unique and special within CPS is we work hard to place candidates in the closest community to where they’re living, because we really believe in community-based educators who can get involved in that community.”
Lizzy Carroll ’17
In coordination with Illinois State’s National Center for Urban Education (NCUE), Wolinski-Norton connects students in her field-based program with community organizations. Teacher candidates have engaged with community-based organizations offering after-school programs, homeless shelters, school stores that sell affordable personal care items for students, and even, Carroll’s nonprofit, Lead With Love. They’ve also attended community events and local cultural festivals.
“Our candidates really see the other side of Chicago and CPS that isn’t often highlighted in the news,” Wolinski-Norton said. “They’re like, ‘Wow, these are some of the highest-rated schools in Illinois; I’m at a school where there are 30 languages spoken, and there’s this rich cultural component that you wouldn’t necessarily get in another setting.’”
Dr. Krystal Lewis-Pratl ’97, M.S. ’06, Ed.D. ’21, a clinical assistant professor, is co-coordinator of the Chicagoland Field-Based Experience SED program, which primarily places candidates in suburban Chicago schools and communities. Her first-semester seniors also spend four days a week at a school—working with students with a range of disabilities—and one day a week taking classes. And, like their Chicago field-based counterparts, they learn about culturally responsive teaching, which involves awareness of one’s students and their community combined with intentionally adapting lessons and classroom management strategies.
“We talk about community assets, what schools are doing, learning about restorative practices and ways to build community within your classroom instead of there always being punitive consequences,” Lewis-Pratl said. “So just having a conversation around how culture impacts every part of what we’re doing and infusing that into our lessons.”
At the beginning of each semester, Lewis-Pratl introduces her teacher candidates to the concept of “unpacking your cultural knapsack.”
“As we’re sharing—these would be things that you wouldn’t know about me personally, unless I shared them with you,” Lewis-Pratl said. “I explain, ‘Your students are going to have the same things about them and their life that, upon appearance you may notice some things about them, but you might not understand those deep-rooted cultural traditions. So how do you involve students and families and really get to know them on a more personal level before diving into the academic piece?’”
Lead With Love, a nonprofit organization established by Lizzy Carroll ’17, provides free community wellness classes—including yoga, meditation, and support groups—for Chicago youth.
When Edward Blanco ’19 was placed in Chicago’s predominantly Mexican American neighborhood of Pilsen for his field-based experience, he rented a nearby apartment and became an active member of the community.
“Learning about the Mexican culture and really embedding into it was really helpful,” said Blanco, a fluent Spanish speaker who is the son of immigrants from Guatemala. “Krystal definitely taught me to question, ‘How is what you’re teaching relevant to the students’ lives?’”
For example, when presenting his students with a chemistry problem involving the measurement of a liquid, Blanco altered the lesson to utilize “Agua de Jamaica,” a popular Mexican drink.
“That’s more relevant to my students’ households and what they’re familiar with, so it got their attention, and they could see that it’s relevant directly to their lives,” Blanco said.
Being bilingual is also an asset as Blanco works with native Spanish speaking students and families. Now in his third year as a special education teacher at Benito Juarez High School in Pilsen, Blanco said he strives to set his students up for “little breakthrough moments” relevant to their lives, and he credits his field-based experience for solidifying his ambition to become a CPS teacher.
“I feel like it really did prepare me, not only to be culturally responsive and prepared to teach the population of students that I do, but it just gave me an insight of what I wanted to go into,” Blanco said.
Wolinski-Norton and Lewis-Pratl who have been with the program for the past decade said they take immense pride in helping equip teacher candidates, like Blanco, with tools to become impactful educators.
“We are growing wonderful candidates through this year-long program where, in most cases, they do the CPS field-based in the fall and then CPS student teaching in the spring,” Wolinski-Norton said. “And we’re very proud to say we have a 100% job placement rate for candidates who want a job in CPS.”
Wolinski-Norton said about 75% of students who complete Illinois State’s field-based program seek jobs within CPS. She said retention among field-based alumni is also high, with 100 Illinois State SED graduates employed by CPS for the 2022-2023 school year. During the fall 2022 semester, Wolinski-Norton said half of the cooperating teachers who are mentoring field-based and student teaching candidates participated in the field-based program as students themselves.
Even after their students graduate, Wolinski-Norton and Lewis-Pratl continue to mentor—and learn from—their former students, and they are amazed by what field-based alumni are accomplishing throughout Chicago.
“They’re creating whole school initiatives; they’re creating nonprofits; they’re making this huge impact in the lives of children across the city and further,” Wolinski-Norton said. “I have been impressed beyond belief by what our alumni do.”
In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Carroll is among those Illinois State alumni who have also established an organization—a vital community asset—for neighborhood youth. During the early days of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, her nonprofit, Lead With Love, fundraised $10,000 to donate more than 100 laptops to students for online learning. She also delivered Wi-Fi hotspots and meals to students when schools were closed.
“We were really able to build some equity around those resources and help families,” Carroll said. Since then, involvement by student leaders has increased. They’re now focused on initiatives to address mental health, physical health, education, and leadership opportunities for local youth.
“Most of the kids who volunteer with me are my former students, and they just want to come back and give to the community and be leaders; and it’s really nice to see,” Carroll said. “As teenagers, they have an understanding of ways that their voice and their contributions are going to make a difference.”
Carroll understands and appreciates firsthand from her experience as a high school student and from Illinois State’s field-based SED program, “There are societal influences and things beyond our power; but you never know the power of one person’s impact in your life.”
