Huntley School District 158 teacher recognized as Outstanding Early Career Educator

HUNTLEY – As her three kids have progressed through Huntley Consolidated School District 158, Chris Bessey has learned how important it is to individualize a child's education.

So when she shifted her life goals at age 44 to begin a career teaching fifth grade at Leggee Elementary School, Bessey used that observation in her own classroom.

It was that, plus a slew of other teaching qualities, that helped the now-47-year-old Algonquin woman become the 2016 Outstanding Early Career Educator of the Year.

“I was absolutely blown away,” Bessey said, describing her initial reaction after finding out in August. “I was just like, ‘Wait, what?’

“We work in our own world, just doing what we do, so it was so neat to be recognized for the ways I try to globalize my classroom.”

Now in its ninth year, the Early Career Educator of the Year award is part of the Illinois State Board of Education’s “Those Who Excel” program. The award each year is given to one teacher throughout the state who is in the first five years of his or her career and has demonstrated excellence and outstanding commitment to the teaching profession.

Leggee Principal Scott Iddings said Bessey stood out throughout the process the district undertook to choose nominees for the various categories of Those Who Excel.

“With Chris, she looks at every student as an individual, which I think most teachers do, but she develops plans and goals for each kid, and addresses their very specific needs.”

She also is not afraid to try new teaching approaches, he added.

Last year, Bessey tried a new method, “flipped instruction,” in which students watch a short concept video at home. The next day in class, the focus is less on reviewing the material and more on putting the concept into practice.

Iddings said other teachers on her team have started to use that method after seeing it in action in Bessey’s classroom.

The fact that her own career in education began not too long ago, she thinks, resonates with her fifth-grade students, Bessey said.

“The kids know I’m a lifelong learner because they know I went back to school later in life, so it’s contagious for them,” she explained. “I think it keeps them wanting to be current, keeps them aware, and makes them realize as a fifth-grader, look at how you can change the world. Look at what a voice you have.”

She said she also relies heavily on technology, encouraging her students to use their Chromebooks in every way they can to expand their views of the world, whether that means blogging or trying to talk to favorite authors.

Bessey pursued her new career through an online institution after her youngest child started middle school. She currently is in her third year in District 158 after having spent time volunteering and subbing for the district.

“It was definitely a challenge,” she said about going after a teaching career while raising kids. “But it has been so worth it.”

Bessey received the award Saturday during a banquet in Normal.

That's also when the recipient of the Illinois Teacher of the Year award, for which Woodstock choral director Paul Rausch is a finalist, will be announced.