Marricea Page, 4th grade teacher at Dr. Maude A. Sanders Primary School has been named Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Teacher of the Year for the 20-county West Central Region. Page was named Peoria Public Schools Donald M. Phares Classroom Teacher of the Year in August. She is now in the running for the 2021 Illinois Teacher of the Year – the state’s highest honor for exemplary educators.
Page has taught 4th grade at Dr. Maude A. Sanders Primary School since 2011. She previously taught 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts (ELA) at Trewyn School. She has a B.S. in Elementary Education from Bradley University, and M.Ed. from both Concordia University and Indiana Wesleyan University. She has been a Grow Your Own Mentor and worked extensively to provide mentoring, professional development and support to colleagues throughout Peoria Public Schools.
According to Dan Hiles, principal of Dr. Maude A. Sanders Primary School, “Mrs. Page shows an incredible depth of knowledge across all content areas as evidenced by clear learning objectives and carefully scaffolded instruction. What really makes her instruction stand out though is her ability to make it exciting and relatable to her students. Mrs. Page is not just known for instructional prowess with students, her ability to reach parents and staff through professional development is well known, too.”
“Having my students achieve academic success is very important, however, having my students feel safe, nurtured and loved is even more important.” Page explained. “This approach to teaching engages each student, regardless of ability, because I focus on each student as an individual with different backgrounds and cultures. I strive each day to be intentional in how I interact with my students, so they leave our class feeling better about themselves as a student, and as a person.”
The Illinois State Teacher of the Year will be announced on October 21 at the ISBE virtual board meeting. We are so proud of Mrs. Page – she is a remarkable representative of Peoria Public Schools and we wish her all the luck as she vies for the top teaching honors in the state.
Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat
Superintendent
