Grundy Reporter

The Minooka Community School District Board learned how plans to offer a supportive work environment are being accomplished in an update during its meeting Monday.

The district hopes to create a supportive and productive work environment to meet the third goal on its strategic plan. With an emphasis on professional development courses, university cohorts, workshops, sessions and instructional coaches are offered to the teachers.

"The instructional coaches did a survey in October to find out other professional development that our teachers may be interested in," Interim Chief Academic Officer Dr. Kathleen Cheshareck said.

She told the board how teachers' enthusiasm for the professional development extends into their lunch period.

"And so they've been working to provide that during lunch time," she said. "They're doing PI (peer instruction) and PD (professional development) in the month of November. The topic is 'Student Engagement'. So teachers actually have signed up to spend two or three sessions during a lunch period, and the coaches are providing them with pies during that time."

Furthermore, the district gives its teachers the ability to take Minooka PLACE courses, which can earn them graduate credits through a partnered university. This fall, teachers had the opportunity to take six different courses, which meant 2-3 graduate credits for the seven to 46 participants. The courses are led by district staff members and are created specifically for the district, though college credit is added through the partnered college.

The district also made sure that training sessions and a refresher course were available in August prior to the beginning of the school year. Since that time, the district's instructional coaches have been supporting teachers as they transition into a literacy-focused curriculum, which delves into the science of reading and is heavy on phonics instruction.

Workshops and training sessions in this area and others are continually available through the school year.