This Grant Middle School teacher was named Springfield's educator of the year

A math teacher at Grant Middle School was named Springfield Public School District 186's top educator on Thursday.

Jill Borah, who has taught with the district and GMS for 18 years, was named the 2021-22 Horace Mann Educator of the Year.

Borah was surprised by family, friends, fellow staff members and students in the school's gym. The longtime math teacher could barely speak out of sheer joy and shock out of receiving one of the district's most prestigious awards.

"As many of you know, Mrs. Borah likes to be prepared," Borah said. "I love to watch each and every one of you grow, improve and shine. Remember (that) the glass is always half-full. Be positive and be kind."

Local news: Springfield's oldest shopping center is up for sale on online auction site

Borah received a cash prize of $1,400, along with a crystal owl as a trophy. She beat out four others – David Curry, a special education teacher at Butler Elementary School; Abbey Dirksen, a family and consumer science teacher at Southeast High School; Kari Lutchka, a librarian at Addams Elementary School; and Missy Netznik, a third-grade teacher at Wilcox Elementary School – for the top prize. The four other finalists received $250 each.

A lifelong resident of Springfield, Borah had identified math as something she wanted to teach from an early age. She felt great pride at being someone who grew up within the district – being a graduate of GMS – and looked back at the many teachers who put her on the path to being an educator.

"I had amazing teachers in the district," Borah said. "(Because of) the rigor, the expectations (and) the compassion that the teachers had for their students, I wanted to come back home."

Superintendent Jennifer Gill said Borah is someone willing to try new things in order to further students' education. She had been an early adopter of the kind of technology that came in handy for the district during the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote learning was needed in its earliest days.

"We had no idea how important that learning and that technology could be," Gill said. "The lessons we learned from you doing that helped guide the work that we did with others during the pandemic."

As the pandemic droned on, Borah supplemented her technology skills through videos designed to teach her students about core areas of study. All of this helped to keep students on track and on the same page.

"When students were out for COVID – either being in quarantine or whatever the case was – (we) just tried (to) make sure they were kept up to speed," Borah said. "I made a lot of videos to help with that, so that they're hearing the lesson from me."

More coverage: Is an abortion legal in Illinois? What to know after the leaked Supreme Court opinion draft

Rob Schurman, the school's principal, said Borah is the kind of teacher that set an example for younger educators in the pipeline. He said he has known her since before her teaching days – Schurman was Borah's golf coach at Springfield High School.

"(She's) selfless – that describes her to a tee," Schurman said. "She's a team player (and) a leader – she leads by example. She goes out of her way to make accommodations to differentiate instruction – to make learning as fun as possible, because math can be challenging for a lot of students."

The district also selected three other teachers as Rising Stars: Lindsey Dunbar, a fifth-grade teacher at Iles School; Marcy Hale, from Lee School; and Dalton McGhiey, a science teacher and e-sports coach at Lanphier High School. All three received their own crystal trophy, plus $250.

The district's Administrator of the Year award will be awarded Friday.

For Borah, Thursday was something that needed time to process. With family, friends, fellow teachers and administrators congratulating her, she strained to find the words that could describe how receiving the award felt after years of hard work.

"(I'm) just trying to process it all (and) take it all in," Borah said. "Obviously, my students, my (fellow) staff members (and) my family mean the world to me. The fact that they all came to support me means a lot.

Contact Zach Roth: (217) 899-4338; ZDRoth@gannett.com; @ZacharyRoth13

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Grant Middle School teacher named Educator of the Year in Springfield