Teacher of the Year
2024 Awardees
Brad Marcy, Teacher of the Year
Brad Marcy ‘09, M.S.’17, of Le Roy earned a bachelor’s degree in history education and a master’s degree in history from Illinois State. He is a history and social science teacher and department chair at Le Roy High School. Throughout his 13 years of teaching, he developed his SEAR Model of teaching that focuses on experiential learning in which learning experiences should be situational, experiential, authentic, and reflective. He creates immersive history lessons that includes creating battle shields and catapults and cleaning gravestones of U.S. military veterans. Brad is a U.S. Army veteran and earned numerous military awards and recognition during his time of service.
Nancy Powell, Legacy Teacher of the Year-Retired
Nancy Powell ‘74, M.S. ‘90, of Bloomington earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education and a master’s degree in educational administration from Illinois State. She taught for 36 years with most of those as a math teacher at Bloomington High School. She is a national board certified teacher. Her contributions to the mathematics learning community extend beyond the classroom in which she has traveled to 37 states to lead mathematics and technology workshops. Her numerous awards and recognitions include the Presidential Award of Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, Golden Apple Fellow, Illinois High School Teacher of the Year, and Tandy Technology and Mathematics Scholar.
April Schermann, Legacy Teacher of the Year-In-Service
April Schermann ‘02 of Normal earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education from Illinois State. For 22 years, she has taught mathematics and computer science at Normal West High School. She has implemented “Building Thinking Classrooms” which gets her students on their feet and encourages them to work with their peers to think through challenging problems. She is a leader who has spearheaded multiple initiatives to bridge the gender gap in STEM fields, encourage underrepresented groups to explore exciting possibilities, and engage hundreds of young students in learning nights that teach them about computer coding. She was named the 2023 Project Lead the Way National Computer Science Teacher of the Year.
David Harnish, Laboratory Schools Teacher of the Year
David Harnish of Normal is a social studies teacher at University High School. He is currently working on a doctorate in education in the School of Teaching and Learning at ISU. David has a deep commitment to making systemic changes in education so that every student feels seen, heard, and included in their educational experiences. In the classroom, he has made the world history curriculum more global and diverse in perspective. As the co-chair of the U-High Diversity Committee, he has led an examination of the admissions process and worked with the diversity committee to develop concrete solutions for recruiting more students from traditionally marginalized communities.
Past Award Winners
2023 Awardees
Bonnie Pollock, Teacher of the Year
Bonnie Pollock ‘13, M.S. ‘16, of Bentonville, Arkansas, earned her Bachelor of Science in elementary education and Spanish and a master’s degree in teaching and learning from Illinois State. She has earned multiple honors in the states where she has taught such as 2018-19 Scoggins Middle School teacher of the year in Texas and the 2020-21 and 2021-22 Walmart Logistics Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Teacher in Arkansas. At her current school in Bentonville Public Schools, she facilitated a student-led writing club that has consisted of nine students winning local, state, or international writing contests.
Michael Soares, Legacy Teacher of the Year
Dr. Michael Soares ‘95, M.S. ‘04, Ph.D. ’18, of Pontiac earned his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctorate all in English education and studies. He currently teaches English at Pontiac Township High school. In his 26 years of teaching, his proudest accomplishment is inspiring former students to earn degrees in English education and become his colleagues. Outside of teaching English, he has a passion for conservation and ecology in which he implemented a student-led project called Operation Endangered Species that rescued alligator snapping turtles by rehabilitating them in Illinois classrooms to be released into the wild. He also takes his conservation projects globally to places like Istanbul and Turkey.
Kevin Thompson, Laboratory Schools Teacher of the Year
Dr. Kevin Thompson, M.S. ‘02, Ed.D. ‘07, of Normal earned his Master of Science in mathematics and doctorate in mathematics education at Illinois State. He currently serves as the Mathematics Department chair at University High School. His contributions outside the classroom include the creation of a weeklong teacher conference for a district of elementary and high school teachers outside of Nairobi, Kenya. Thompson is proud of his career as an AP calculus teacher mentoring over 500 students, some of whom have gone on to successful career fields such as NASA .