District 87's new elementary school principal said she didn't seek a career in education. It found her.
Guille Delgado has been a teacher at Bent Elementary in west Bloomington since 2006 after working in engineering at Caterpillar.
Delgado said on WGLT’s Sound Ideas that's when she found her calling.
“I heard from a friend that there was a need, a shortage of bilingual teachers and that she thought I’d be great for teaching. I don’t know why,” she quipped. “I was like, OK I’ll go find out. I approached (Illinois State University) and they said you should definitely pursue this."
Delgado got her education degree in Illinois State University. She's now one of the first Latino administrators in District 87's history.
The Mexico native came to the United States with her family at age 4. She has taught kindergarten, first second and third grade at Bent. She has taught at Illinois State as an adjunct professor and helped establish English language learner courses at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Delgado interned at Bent Elementary while pursuing her master’s degree in educational administration at ISU last year.
She helped coordinate the bilingual program at Bent. It has a plurality Hispanic population of 38%.
Delgado said she believes her heritage will help her foster a better understanding with many of her students.
“I definitely believe they will identify with me and in being part of the community I understand their needs,” Delgado said.
Delgado said part of that understanding means helping students with basic needs. The school has a 71% rate of students from low-income families.
She said sometimes a student needs a jacket or gloves during the winter.
“We are very fortunate that we have a lot of partners within the community that provide for us a lot of things,” Delgado said, noting Eastview Christian Church and Western Avenue Community Center can assist with supplies while some parents occasionally drop off knitted gloves and scarves for the children.
District 87 superintendent Barry Reilly said he wanted to hire someone who was bilingual. Delgado's diverse background helped make her a perfect fit.
“The fact that we have a Hispanic female at a school with our bilingual program is a significant bonus for many families that see someone who looks like them who is fluent in their language,” Reilly said. “To see a leader who looks like them, who is fluent in their language, to see a leader like that, she’ll be a role model for everyone, but in particular those families will have someone in that leadership role they can be proud of.”
Delgado will replace Jeff Geringer who is retiring after this school year. She was one of seven administrators District 87 recently hired. All seven were internal candidates, and all seven are women.
“I serve as a role model for other young ladies who want to pursue leadership roles within the community, including Bent and previous 'Superstars' that went here,” Delgado said, referring to the school’s mascot.
Reilly Welcomes Sexting Education Rules
Superintendent Barry Reilly said his teachers are already talking to students about the dangers of sharing sexually explicit content through texting and social media, but he would welcome a state law requiring education about sexting in Illinois schools.
“Growing up there were decisions I made or friends made that if you have social media to put these things on that could last forever and I think kids today just don’t quite understand that,” Reilly said.
State Rep. Maurice West, a Democrat from Rockford, has proposed mandating schools teach students in grades six through 12 about the consequences of sexting.
West visited a Rockford high school where he learned a majority of disciplinary cases there was for sharing sexually explicit content.
Reilly said District 87’s teachers talk to students about the dangers of sharing sexually explicit content online, but he said curriculum will need to keep up with technology.
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