Seven staff members at Homewood-Flossmoor High School have been nominated for the Illinois State Board of Education’s Those Who Excel recognition.

The Those Who Excel nominees are John Manthey, Mylan Reeves and Cody Rudnick in the Early Career Educator category; Gail Smith in the Administrator category; Heithon Hurdle Jr. and Christina Clark in the Student Support Personnel category; and Bobbi Ferree in the Educational Service Personnel category. They were nominated for this honor by their colleagues.

The Illinois State Board of Education has sponsored the Those Who Excel program for 55 years. The awards honor educators who have made significant contributions to public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools. 

The H-F staff will be recognized at an ISBE banquet in spring.

Early Career Educators

This category recognizes teachers with five years of fewer in the profession.

John Manthey went to college to be a sports broadcaster. After two years, he left and was working at a sporting goods store when a former high school teacher asked him to come help him coach basketball. 

“It only took a couple of practices to realize this was fun.” That part-time job was enough to convince Manthey to return to school. He substitute-taught while completing his teaching degree at Governors State University. He’s been an English teacher at H-F since 2024.

Manthey admits he’s a positive person and he goes into the classroom ready to match students’ energy levels. “I try to make this the most exciting class possible for kids.”

Mylan Reeves has taken on various jobs in his four years at H-F. He said H-F “has challenged me, stretched me and made me a more intentional educator and person.” He came for student teaching and then got hired as a dean’s assistant. Reeves then served as an instructional assistant in the Delta Program.

Today Reeves is teaching Algebra 2, Integrated Math 1 and 2 and Econ/Personal Finance in the Anchor Program serving students with behavioral or social/emotional issues.

“These kids have been through a lot, and I remind myself constantly that they deserve patience, respect and someone who refuses to give up on them,” he said. “These students have shaped the way I see the world.”

Cody Rudnick joined the H-F staff five years ago as a PE/health/driver’s ed instructor. He’s also coaching sophomore football and is the junior varsity assistant coach for boys wrestling.

Rudnick was on the football and wrestling teams at Downers Grove North High School, and he remembers a teacher his junior year that “was a huge mentor for me…It was the way I saw him carry himself when I was a student, and it seemed to be something that I found inspirational at the time.” 

Today, Rudnick says the benefits of being a teacher is knowing he is helping students get to the knowledge and skills they need to reach their goal.

Administrator

Director of Activities Gail Smith came to H-F as a math teacher 21 years ago. She left the classroom at the behest of Superintendent Von Mansfield and Principal Laura Murray, who asked her to take the assistant director of athletics and activities job. 

Smith isn’t someone with a 9-to-5 job. The position has evolved over the years, and it requires Smith to be omnipresent. Today Smith’s the person working directly with H-F’s 80 student activities, everything from theater productions to speech and debate competitions to Special Olympics.

In high school “I was a three-sport athlete, and did activities and I was in the band, so it just was a natural fit because I did have an interest in a lot of these (H-F) things,” Smith said.

Student Support Personnel

Heithon Hurdle Jr. has been at H-F for four years as a special education social worker helping students deal with their issues. He was a psychology major at the University of St. Francis. He tried social work in a hospital setting, but it didn’t inspire him. 

“Once I got the opportunity to do social work (in a school) it was a no-brainer,” he said.

Much has been said about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, and Hurdle agrees it was “very pivotal for students,” but he adds, “I don’t think COVID was a big bang theory, but it did facilitate change in how we look at mental health.”

Christina Clark is an instructional coach for teachers. She came to H-F in 2010 as a culinary teacher, and three years ago she moved into this administrative role.

“I’m working alongside other teachers in the building by providing professional learning and job support throughout the school year,” she said. Clark also is one of two professional development coordinators at H-F, and she organized the New Educator Orientation week events for new teachers joining the H-F staff.

“I’m more on the side of supporting educators and committed to life-long learning.”

Educational Service Personnel

Bobbi Ferree is the secretary for the Science Department serving 30 staff members. She’s been on staff for four years after a career in the business world. 

Ferree’s other title is substitute teacher coordinator managing the substitute teacher roster. She spends about three-quarters of her day on that work. When an H-F staff member calls in sick, is ill at work or leaves due to an emergency, it’s Ferree’s job to call a teacher, or those from the substitute teachers list, to get every absentee’s position filled.