Special education teacher Jennifer Bigenwald received the Vita Plena award in March 2015, an award that highlights excellence in teaching at LT. Bigenwald was unaware that she and all of the district employees who had earned similar awards were put into a pool for Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to choose from. So when Bigenwald won the Western Springs VFW Post 10778 Teacher of the Year award, she was surprised.

“I did not even know that my name went into this pool,” Bigenwald said. “So when [superintendent Tim Kilrea] came up and told me that day, I was just flabbergasted. I thought he was joking.”

The award was even more special to Bigenwald because her sister in-law informed her about a dream she had the previous night about Bigenwald’s late mother, in which her mother said she was watching her and she was proud of her. It made the award sentimental, Bigenwald said.

“Later that day when Dr. Kilrea came up and told me [about the award], it kind of brought back that dream, so I started to cry,” Bigenwald said.

Bigenwald received the award on March 31 from four servicemen in the boardroom at LT. Her boss Special Education division chair Brian Mahoney and superintendent Kilrea were also in attendance.

“I was thrilled for her,” Mahoney said. “It is always nice when teachers can be rewarded for their hard work and dedication. When I heard the good news, it did not come as a surprise at all.”

Bigenwald has been working at LT since 1994. She has a bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Illinois State University and a master’s degree in Counseling from Lewis University.

“What you see is what you get with Mrs. Bigenwald,” Mahoney said. “When working with students, she demonstrates the perfect balance of holding them accountable while also listening to and validating their concerns. With her colleagues, Mrs. Bigenwald is a team player who is constantly making decisions based on what is best for students.”

She is very humbled to have received the award. However, she teaches because she loves her students, not to get recognition, Bigenwald said.

“Honestly I love my job,” Bigenwald said. “I love teaching the students that I teach, seeing them graduate at the end of the year, moving on and being successful. I love when my former students come back and tell me how well they’re doing and what they’re doing in terms of careers. I don’t do what I do for accolades because in my opinion, often times this is a very thankless job, simply because it’s not all the time that students succeed.”