Three students — Chloe Pease, Kingston Bailey and Maximillian Escamilla — were presented with the 2021 Tom Dockweiler Award for their outstanding achievements in the 2020 school year.
The award is named for former Homewood District 153 school board member Tom Dockweiler who gave 21 years of service to the board before he retired in 2007. Dockweiler set a goal for students to show improvement from year to year. This year’s honorees were recognized at the Oct. 12 school board meeting.
Chloe was recognized for her efforts as an eighth grader at James Hart School. She is now a freshman at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.
She was described as a “hardworking, caring and just a wonderful young lady,” by Principal Kimberly Johnson, who said Chloe deserves much credit for her concern for her peers and James Hart School last year.
Kingston, now a fourth grader at Churchill School, had phenomenal growth between fall 2020 and fall 2021, said Principal Sara Schnoor. Kingston excelled in reading, showing five levels of growth “which is a huge feat, especially so early on in your career as a scholar.” No other student showed such growth. In addition, Kingston’s math scores also showed significant growth.
Willow School Principal Melissa Lawson said, “Max is an amazing student. He loves his family, friends and school. He worked hard last year in person and showed big improvement in math. He’s the kind of person who always thinks about others and takes the time to ask how they are or to say something nice.” This year, Max is in second grade.
Shelly Marks, president of the school board, said the awards are special not just for the students.
“It’s not just a student success story, but it belongs to every adult that’s helped them along the way,” she said. “I also want to thank the parents, because without your efforts, your children wouldn’t be achieving the way they do. They do this because you care about their learning, and you support our efforts and we appreciate that so much. So, this award is not only your child’s but it’s yours as well.”