Champaign Unit 4 School District: CU Schools Foundation Announces 2022 Distinguished Alumni Honorees

Press release from the Champaign Unit 4 School District:

01/25/2022

The Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation (CUSF) announced its 2022 Distinguished Alumni Honorees, including a pair of Unit 4 graduates whose achievements, strength of character and citizenship serve as role models to inspire and challenge today’s youth. Awards will be presented to Distinguished Alumni from each public high school, as well as the Local Hero and Local Business Community Impact Honoree. 

Representing Unit 4 as 2022 Distinguished Alumni honorees are Sue Grey, Centennial High School class of 1979 and Dianne Massock Messina-Stanley, Central High School class of 1966.

A Unit 4 graduate also received the Local Hero Award. Amariah Hays, Central High School Class of 2002, was recognized with the accolade for willingly volunteering time and effort to benefit the local community.   

Sue Grey, a 1979 graduate of Centennial High School, has been making a difference in CU for over 30 years in a variety of roles.  A U of I graduate in Leisure Studies and die-hard Illini fan, Sue worked in the Champaign Park District, was CEO for Girl Scouts-Green Meadows Council, provided leadership for the Unit 4 Schools, (Board of Education) and currently serves as the President and CEO for United Way of Champaign County.  She is a Champaign Rotarian, and active in C-U Cradle to Career and Community Coalition initiatives. One of her nominators, Cate Stallmeyer says, “sometimes when students graduate from high school, they can’t wait to get out of town.  For Sue, this community is her home, and she has spent an entire career inspiring others to volunteer and support this community.”

Dianne Massock Messina-Stanley, a 1966 graduate of Champaign High School (Central) attended the University of Illinois receiving her master’s degree from the College of Media.  After relocating to Los Angeles, Dianne enjoyed a long and productive career as a television writer and producer.  She wrote and contributed to many television shows including: Knots Landing, Strong Medicine, Judging Amy, The Young and the Restless, House Calls, Army Wives, That’s Life, and Pacific Palisades.  Ms. Messina was nominated with a team of writers and producers for an Emmy award for Homefront (1991) and received the Imagen Foundation Award -Best Primetime TV series, for Second Chances in 1993.  Her nominator, former Central High School English teacher Patricia Johnson notes “Dianne’s accomplished career in television speaks for itself; her talent and ambition are indeed noteworthy.”

Amariah Hays, a 2002 Central High School graduate will be recognized with the Local Hero Award, which celebrates an individual who has willingly volunteered time and effort to benefit the local community.  Amariah’s childhood experiences led her to pursue a 15-year career in social work, serving most recently as the coordinator for volunteer advocates at Champaign County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).  She also serves as a board member of The Family Room, a local non-profit serving families with foster children or children in transition.  Her book for children of all ages, A Place to Call Home is provided to children and caregivers at CASA to help explain the process of foster care. Her nominator, Julia Rietz says “Amariah is a local hero for the children in our community. She is a shining example of what children can accomplish with support--despite the adversities they face.”

Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation is grateful to the thirty-five 2021-2022 Community Partners for supporting this Distinguished Alumni Class. A celebratory reception is tentatively planned at the I Hotel on Friday, April 8th from 5-6:30 pm pending COVID protocols. Ticket information will be available in February at www.cusf.org.

View the Full CUSF Release HERE.

Unit 4 Board of Education Statement Regarding Negotiations with CFT

The Board of Education has not commented on contract negotiations but has a responsibility to stakeholders to clarify misinformation that is circulating.

We’ve long heard from parents, teachers, administrators, and others in the community that Unit 4 students have less instructional time, shorter recess and lunch periods, and less time to connect with their friends compared to other districts. Because we want a better educational experience for our students, the Board’s proposal increases elementary students’ day by 50 minutes beginning with the 2023-2024 school year. This allows for additional lunch/recess time, as required by a recent law, and will increase student learning time by 30 minutes.  

Under the Board’s proposal, elementary teachers’ workday will extend by 35 minutes in the 2023-2024 school year, with increased compensation for the additional time. Teachers will receive 5 additional minutes of lunch and 5 additional minutes of planning time. 

The Board understands that adding more time to the student day without giving teachers the tools they need to make it successful is unwise. When developing the District's Strategic Plan, we learned that Unit 4 teachers have less access to high quality professional development time focused on important topics including social-emotional learning and health, instructional strategies, and culturally responsive practices than educators in other districts. Under our proposal, all K-12 teachers will help develop and implement a plan for 60 minutes of high-quality professional development each week. 

There will be many opportunities for input from our stakeholders because the extended school day will not start until the 2023-2024 school year. During the remainder of this school year and next year, a task force of administrators, teachers, support staff, and other stakeholders–including parents and community members–will work to ensure successful development and implementation of the extended day. The plan will include scheduling logistics such as start and end times, transportation, and other related items.   

One important point to clarify is that Unit 4 schools will not be starting for any students at 6:30 a.m., nor will students be on buses at 5:30 a.m. Again, once an agreement with CFT is in place, reasonable schedules will be developed for each campus, with ample stakeholder input. 

We will continue to meet with CFT and work diligently to reach a resolution and hope this information alleviates the concerns that are spreading. 

This press release was produced by the Champaign Unit 4 School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.