When Michelle Stiff was first elected to Joliet Township High School District 204 Board in 2019, she had no idea that a global pandemic was on the horizon, and that it would forever change how we think about educating our youth.
Stiff, the director of the Workforce Services Division of Will County, is running for re-election on the April 4 ballot. If re-elected, she said her biggest goal is to improve access and opportunity for students to complete high school.
“I would like to improve our 80% graduation rate,” she added. “This can be accomplished by fostering family engagement to ensure students have the support they need by increasing more awareness through communication, home visits, and surveys.”
Stiff acknowledges that the pandemic caused everyone to pivot using an e-learning model of education. “Some families were ill-equipped to handle the crisis, which resulted with the school providing not just computers but Wi-Fi for students to have access to e-learning.” Returning to the classroom was sometimes traumatic for both students and teachers.
“JTHS did a wonderful job with providing resources to those who had a hard time with the adjustment and transition from being on lock down, lack of social engagement, or the loss of life from someone close,” she said. The school district hired licensed clinicians to provide support, programs, and interventions.
One big accomplishment in her first board term was adding dual credit programming; this gives students the ability to simultaneously earn college credits or skill certificates while completing high school. A number of fields such as Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), OSHA training, first aid training, and Microsoft certificates are now available to high school students. “This is a pathway for our students to enter the workforce with skills upon completion of high school,” she said.
Stiff, and her husband Jesse are parents of three sons educated in District 204. “I am absolutely vested in the JTHS community personally and professionally,” she said. “My children are products of JTHS education, and I work in the community as a public servant. Additionally, my goal is to work tirelessly to make sure students and staff are safe in the school environment in which optimal learning can be provided.”
Stiff said she wants to build a culture of customer service to stakeholders inside and outside of the classroom by providing a more equitable educational platform for students to have a sense of belongingness. She suggests having flexible options for credit recovery through virtual, asynchronous, and teacher facilitation.
She has 18 years’ experience in education, holding a BA in Liberal Arts from Governors State University, as well as master’s degrees in special education (K-12) and Educational Administration.
Besides Stiff, others seeking the four four-year seats on the board are incumbents Garrett Beene, Dan Coffey and Frank Edmon Jr. Newcomers vying for the board seats are Angela Huntington, Thomas Fitzpatrick, and Damon Zdunich. Incumbent Matthew Kennedy is running for the one two-year seat on District 204 Board. Stiff said she is not running on a slate as she is independently pursuing re-election.
District 204 was established in 1899 and founded in 1901, making it one of the oldest school districts in the nation. It serves more than 6,500 students in grades 9-12. In 2009, almost 53 percent of district students were classified as low income.