Jennifer Ciok: 2025 candidate for Mount Prospect Elementary District 57 board
Bio
Office sought: Mount Prospect Elementary District 57 board (Vote for 4)
City: Mount Prospect
Age: 46
Occupation: Manager of coaching and improvement
Previous offices held: Current Mount Prospect District 57 board member
Why are you running for this office? Is there a particular issue that motivates you?
A robust public education system is essential for thriving communities as it establishes a solid foundation for our future growth. I have worked in education for the last 25 years — first as a middle school teacher, then as a social emotional learning manager, and now as the manager of coaching and improvement for the University of Chicago’s To&Through Middle Grades Network.
I’m running for reelection to the District 57 board to champion a strong public education system where students, educators and the community feel informed about what is happening in the district and seen, valued and heard in the decisions being made.
I want to leverage my expertise in education, building on the momentum of the past four years, to prepare children for the future by fostering learning environments where students feel like they belong and are inspired to reach their full potential.
What is the role of the school board in setting and monitoring the curriculum?
School boards are one part of a robust process in setting and monitoring curriculum. As is done in District 57, school boards should ensure an intentional cycle for evaluating curriculum is in place. This begins with looking at updated standards and doing a needs assessment for what is missing and what should be enhanced.
A survey of students, parents, and staff should be completed to understand how they experience the current curriculum. From there, a committee should form to find curricula that meet the identified needs and to pilot new materials.
Updates of this process should be shared with the board. Once pilots are completed, additional data should be collected on which curriculum best fits the diverse needs of students and staff.
A presentation of findings should be made to the board with time to ask questions, share feedback, and make a final decision on which curriculum is adopted.
After adoption, the board should be updated on how implementation is going, what additional professional development is taking place, and any other needs.
The board should also analyze outcome data to make sure the new curriculum is helping students grow in their skills and understanding.
Are there curriculum issues within the district that you feel need particular attention from the board?
Though we have begun to make progress on this, I think an area that needs continued attention in District 57 is the vertical alignment of curriculum with District 214 to make sure that our students are prepared for the challenge and rigor of high school curriculum and classes.
Being a small district comes with additional challenges of how many courses we can offer and how to best differentiate based on the diverse needs of students.
Articulation with high school staff, especially ninth-grade teachers, and receiving timely outcome data is so important to understand where we should prioritize resources and what may be missing.
Helping students to see themselves in the curriculum and better understand how it relates to their lives and post-secondary pathway interests is fundamental in keeping students engaged, learning what other opportunities we need to offer, and making sure that our curriculum is relevant.
How do you view your role in confronting policy or curriculum controversies: provide leadership even if unpopular, give a voice to constituents — even ones with whom you disagree, or defer to state authorities?
As a board member, my role when it comes to policy and curriculum controversies is first and foremost to listen to the concern and then inquire to better understand the concern and what the context is surrounding it.
The District 57 community has multiple avenues to communicate with the board from written and spoken community comments, community engagement events, and a feedback form that goes to all board members.
Even if the view being expressed is unpopular, it is important to understand what has happened from differing perspectives and to make sure that concerns have been addressed, even if they can’t always change in the exact way the person who brought the complaint is hoping. Decisions should be based on qualitative and quantitative data and should include all relevant stakeholders.
Describe your experience working in a group setting to determine policy. What is your style in such a setting to reach an agreement and manage school district policy? Explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions for your school board.
As a current member of the District 57 board, Ed-Red Board, and AMLE Advocacy Committee, I’ve had many opportunities to determine policy alongside a diverse group of stakeholders.
From reviewing our district’s current policies for changes to determining priorities for advocacy at the state and federal level, I have experience taking into account varying perspectives to advocate for the best ways to support students.
My style is to research the topic, listen to other people’s perspectives, share my thoughts, and find the common ground in order to take action. Building a bridge between people and ideas is something that has always been a strength of mine, especially when it comes to education policies.
My knowledge of how schools work, my background in data analysis and research, and my expertise in using continuous improvement practices to enact change have proved to be effective in driving positive outcomes and actions so far, and if reelected, in the future.
What is your assessment of the school district's diversity and equity efforts? Do you support the continuation or enhancement of such programs, or would you rather see them diminished. Please explain your reasoning.
District 57 is made up of a diverse group of people with differing abilities, perspectives, beliefs, genders, religions, races, languages and socioeconomic status. Our schools should be places where all students are seen, valued, heard and feel like they belong.
School staff should know they have a voice and are supported in making the best decisions for students.
During my first term, I was active in efforts by the board and leadership team to assess our strengths and weaknesses in serving all of our students through audits, data analysis, and forming a district-level team to identify priorities within our strategic plan. I plan to continue promoting those efforts moving forward.
Though we made progress, I want to see continued growth in students’ extracurricular involvement, more opportunities for student voice and choice, more equitable outcomes for all students, and a continued focus on attracting and retaining a high-quality, diverse staff.
This means that I, regardless of federal actions to weaken public education, will keep students at the center of my decision making and advocate to make sure they have the resources, supports, and opportunities needed to grow and develop.
What makes you the best candidate for the job?
In my 25 years working in public education, I have seen education from all different perspectives. I have led teams, supervised and evaluated people and initiatives, implemented changes, and worked with multiple forms of data.
I have worked with current research, influenced policy and my first book on how to make middle school engaging is due out in May. Because of my qualifications, I was selected to serve on the Ed-Red Board, two AMLE Constituent Committees, and was recently named as a School Board Partner Fellow.
Each of these experiences help me to better understand what it means to implement lasting and effective change in schools, and gives me valuable training and development to better support District 57.
It has truly been an honor to serve on the board the last four years, and as we get ready to embark on an exciting phase of building brighter futures through new innovative spaces and the continuation of our strategic plan. I am ready, willing and eager to lead the district into the future.
What’s one good idea you have to better your district that no one is talking about yet?
As a former social studies teacher, civic engagement has always been important to me. One idea that I would love to see implemented is participatory budgeting with student input.
Building on our goal of incorporating students’ voices into more of our spaces and decision making, I’d love to give students the opportunity to decide on a project each year at their school.
Starting with ideating on a problem they want to see solved, then determining a budget based on the funds we’ve allotted, and then campaigning for their idea in front of their classmates with a vote at the end.
This process would give students the opportunity from a young age to be engaged, take part in a democratic process, and drive change.