Patch Picks: Five Notable Teachers

In the past year, teachers in Burr Ridge, Hinsdale, and Clarendon Hills' school districts have done great things for their students. Here are some of our most notable teachers:

1. 

Theresa McGee was one of just 12 teachers nationwide to receive PBS's award, which recognizes "educators' creative and inventive use of public media to engage students and improve." McGee uses technology such as podcasting and Google Earth in her lessons to show her students how art impacts people around the world. "I actually started out as a major in electronic media and then decided I needed to have more personal interaction with people and that’s how I got into art education," McGee said at the time. "To be able to do both is sort of the best of all worlds."

2. 

social studies teacher Jeff Waterman was one of 10 Illinois recipients of the 3M Star in the Classroom award, which recognizes teachers who have incorporated strong economic programs in their classrooms. Waterman, who worked with South Holland Trust and Savings Back for seven years, has given $50,000 to the Hinsdale South Investment Club, which invests it throughout the year. At the end of the year, the club donates 80% of the interest income after taxes to a charity, and use the remaining 20% to throw a party (they usually gross about $4,000). "It's been a great pleasure [to work at Hinsdale South] and it is a very rewarding career," Waterman said.

3. 

's Mike Pastiak, who has 38 years of teaching experience, was nominated by his former students in 2010 for a Heroes in the Classroom award. Pastiak, who was one of 16 Chicago-area teacher to win a Heroes in the Classroom award, has formed strong relationships with his past students over the years. "Some of those students are my best friends," he said. "I'm really touched they did this."

4. 

Hinsdale elementary school students had to say good-bye to music teacher Nelle Robinson at the end of the 2010-2011 school year. Robinson, who dedicated her entire career to teaching in District 181, has fond memories of organizing school plays and musicals in the 1970s and 1980s, including writing original songs for a performance of "The Nutcracker." Robinson had advice for her students as she prepared to say good-bye: "Do as many things as possible for as long as you can, and include art and don't think, automatically, 'I can't do that.'"

5. 

Gary Hutchinson had been nominated twice for the Natioanl Business Education Association Distinguished Service Award, and finally won in 2011. Hutchinson, who has taught at Hinsdale South for 12 years, is also the school's career and technical education department chair. He was also included in the Who's Who Among American Teachers in 2002-2004, and was named Administrator of the Year in 2009 by the Illinois Business Education Association, and Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year in 2011 by the Illinois Association for Career and Technical Education. "My winning an award like this would not have been possible without the help of all my colleagues, especially those at Hinsdale South and Central,” he said at the time.