Downers Grove teachers share in civic education award

It was on the advice and urging of his father — award-winning Downers Grove North High School teacher Walt Matune — that Keith Matune went into teaching.

So it’s only fitting that this year, Keith Matune has been honored with the same statewide teaching award that his father earned more than two decades ago.

A month ago, Keith Matune, a social studies teacher in Lake Park High School in Roselle, was recognized as High School Teacher of the Year by the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, a nonprofit dedicated to civic education in the classroom.

“My dad never told me, ‘I told you so,’ so he was glad — through the teaching award he said, ‘I guess that teaching thing worked out after all,’” Keith Matune said with a laugh.

The award is judged on teaching and character traits including commitment, knowledge of the subject and classroom engagement, said Dee Runaas, high school programs director for the foundation.

“Does the teacher give his time beyond what he is required?” Runaas said. “Do they motivate their students’ confidence?”

Keith Matune was nominated in part based on curriculum he developed for students in special education programs. Matune teaches “Law and American Society” and U.S. History for juniors and seniors, and he adapted the subject matter both to include the special education students and to diversify his class, according to a nominating letter from a colleague.

"We felt that was a pretty impressive feat, to take on curriculum that's challenging on the best of days for most students, and find a way to include special-ed students," Runaas said.
Matune, a member of the Downers Grove Community High School 99 School Board, is a 1987 North graduate.

His father, who taught at North from 1983 until he retired in 2002, encouraged him to be a teacher, but Matune was set on politics. After college, he got a job on Capitol Hill, but he found work in politics not what he had imagined.

Matune found his calling in the classroom when his father invited him to speak about his experience in politics in front of his classroom.

“I found that I really enjoyed it,” he said. “That was really the impetus for me becoming a teacher, so I quit my job and I went back to school.”

The Matunes’ background did not play into the award selection, Runaas said. The award is open to any Illinois teacher, and the nomination committee was not made aware of the father-son connection, she said.

“It’s totally objective,” Runaas said. “It’s just based on the materials.”

Moving forward with the award, Matune said he hopes to continue emphasizing the importance of civic education — although not necessarily through his position on the School Board. It’s not typically up to board members to dictate curriculum specifics; that’s the superintendent’s role, Matune said.

But he does believe that District 99 has a strong social studies program, and he’d like to see more schools in Illinois and across the country emphasize civics and social studies.

“My biggest goal is to make civic education as important as it possibly can be, as much as math and science is regarded currently,” he said. “It’s no longer being tested in high schools as a standardized form of assessment. One of my goals as an educator is to change that.”

About Keith Matune
AGE 43
RESIDENCE Downers Grove
FAMILY Wife, Dawn; children Drew, 8; Quin, 6; Megan, 2; Bryce, 2
SERVICE Elected to Downers Grove Community High School District 99 school board in 2011