CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - What started as a typical school day for a teacher at William Howard Taft High School, turned into a surprise ceremony Monday morning.
Art teacher Jennifer Trejo received the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching.
"It means a lot because we're a neighborhood public school and I think we do really awesome things," Trejo said during the award presentation.
Trejo has been sharing her love for art and creative thinking with students at Taft High School for 15 years.
From classes in sculpture and visual arts to Advanced Placement courses in studio art, she said her love for education comes from the great art teachers she had growing up in Chicago.
"I participated in a program called Gallery 37 and it was a place where teens from all over the city could go to be with like-minded artists," said Trejo. "And to be in a spot where teachers thought so highly of you, without knowing you, was very cool. [Now], to get to do that for my kids, it doesn't matter if they go on to continue in the arts, but to be creative thinkers and creative problem solvers that's really what we're trying to do."
The Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching recognize and honor outstanding teachers for their roles in having lasting, positive effects on students’ lives and building stronger communities.
Trejo is one of 10 recipients in Illinois out of more than 400 nominations - an accolade she said is humbling.
"Just to get nominated is a huge deal," she said. "To go through the steps of the nomination process and to have the chance, when they did the site visit, of inviting people to speak on my behalf was very humbling and just to get to this point, it's a big deal."
In addition to the Golden Apple, Trejo also received a $5,000 cash award and a paid spring sabbatical at Northwestern University.
She'll also become a Fellow of the Golden Apple Academy of Educators, a community of educators who play an important role in preparing the next generation of teachers in the Golden Apple Scholars and Accelerators programs - which are dedicated to addressing the teacher shortage.
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