Life Transition teacher Nicole McCormick was named the Illinois Special Education Teacher of the Year for 2023. Photo credit: Daily Herald
Many excellent educators have been recognized for their exceptional work with young people. One of these is Nicole McCormick, a Life Transition teacher from Illinois. She has been named the Illinois Special Education Teacher of the Year for 2023.
Nicole teaches in District 214’s Specialized Schools, which serves Cook County. She instructs courses in the Life Transition program, which provides innovative, specialized instruction to students with disabilities who are 18 to 22 years old. The program prepares them for daily life once they have graduated from school. Nicole also serves as the Head Coach of her District’s Special Olympics team. She has worked for District 214 since 2010.
Meghan Muldoon Brown, the District’s Director of Special Education, nominated Nicole for the award. “In her role this year, Nicole has reimagined our vocational programming to create meaningful and individualized experiences for each student, and align these experiences with career pathways to better reinforce their post-secondary preparation,” declares Muldoon Brown. “Nicole has made the District philosophy of ‘Redefining Readiness’ really come alive for our special education transition students, and this has become evident in their progress,” Muldoon Brown continued.
Valerie Norris, Principal of Specialized Schools, agrees that Nicole’s work is exceptional. Norris describes the honored teacher “a disability advocate on a mission. That mission is to increase the number of disabled adults employed in the area significantly.
Nicole says was very young when she decided to become a teacher. She decided to go into Special Education because she has a family member that has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. She earned her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from North Park University in Chicago.
