Jill Guerrero

Chicago Heights School District 170 and Garfield School are pleased to announce that fifth-grade teacher Jill Guerrero was one of 10 Chicagoland teachers recently recognized as a winner of the “We Appreciate Teachers” contest sponsored by Back 2 School Illinois.

Guerrero received her award at an October 25th reception at Chicago’s Lincoln Commons.

Back 2 School Illinois is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the education of all Illinois children. The organization’s Back 2 School Program distributes school supplies to children from low-income families. The program also entails a college scholarship program to ensure equal opportunities for deserving high school students.

Back 2 School Illinois recognized the teachers as a reward for their resourcefulness and creativity to enhance and inspire learning during the pandemic.

“I was so proud to be one of the teachers honored at the event,” Guerrero said. “It was especially gratifying to be acknowledged by an organization renowned for distributing essential school supplies to students from underprivileged communities.”

While Guerrero admitted to being proud of receiving a gift basket to recognize her accomplishments, she acknowledged that any individual satisfaction paled to insignificance at seeing the excitement on her students’ faces as they opened the gift baskets provided by Back 2 School Illinois.

“In all honesty, seeing my students’ excitement at opening their back-to-school kits was the highlight of the experience,” she said.