Elyse Smith was both personally and professionally raised in Oak Park’s District 97 schools.
As a youngster, she attended Longfellow Elementary School and Percy Julian Middle School, before moving on to Oak Park and River Forest High School and Illinois State University.
She returned to do her student teaching at Whittier Elementary before accepting her first job as a fifth-grade teacher back at Longfellow in October 2006, after a short stint as a district substitute.
Today, she teaches kindergarten at Horace Mann Elementary. And now she is a Cook County Co-regional Teacher of the Year, as awarded by the Illinois State Board of Education.
She is one of 13 regional Teacher of the Year winners and has the possibility of being named the outright 2026 Illinois State Teacher of the Year in April.
“I think a lot of people think teaching is easy,” Smith said. “It’s not. It’s not for the faint of heart. That’s the biggest challenge. … without teachers, none of us would be where we are. You can do because you had a teacher.”
Smith was named Cook County Co-regional Teacher of the Year with educators from Chicago Public Schools District 299 and Hoffman Estates High School District 211.
It’s not hard to see why she was selected. Before her school year starts, she visits the homes of her kindergarteners and chalks their sidewalks with the phrase, “Welcome to Ms. Smith’s Class!”
And 12 years later, every spring, she visits her former kindergarteners before or after their high school graduation, whether they went to OPRF, Fenwick or some other school, within a reasonable driving distance.
In between, she sees education, and herself specifically, as a key pivot point in young lives that are growing up in an increasingly complex world.
“I think that educators wear many hats,” she said. “We are not just teachers. We are people that are sometimes almost a social worker, taking care of them, almost another parent teaching them right from wrong.”
Smith was recommended by a current kindergarten parent for consideration for the annual Those Who Excel and Teacher of the Year Awards from the Illinois State Board of Education. That set in motion work she had to choose to do, including gathering letters of recommendation from an administrator, a colleague and a parent. She went through a similar process in the 2012-13 school year and made it into the top 10 finalists. But there were no regions back then.
This time, she was a winner, and how did she find out? Well, that’s a story unto itself.
Her principal, Hussain Ali, coordinated a meeting Feb. 5. As Smith strode down the hall of Mann Elementary, she pondered what it could be. Supposedly it had to do with one of her students.
She arrived and was greeted by Ali and a screen featuring multiple people, including District 97’s co-interim superintendents, Dr. Griff Powell and Patrick Robinson, and a number of other names she didn’t recognize.
One of them happened to be state superintendent of education Dr. Tony Sanders.
Color Smith now very confused. And then it all became clear.
“The state superintendent was just saying, we were blown away by the letters of recommendation and everything you’ve done, and you’re the co-Teacher of the Year for the Cook County region,” she said. “When I figured everything out, I was so appreciative, so full-circle and blessed. I want to be the teacher my children want to have, a teacher where you have a lifelong connection to.”
Count Ali as almost excited as Smith is about the honor.
“As a principal, you hope to work alongside educators who not only teach children, but also transform communities,” Ali said. “Ms. Smith does exactly that. Her commitment begins before the school year even starts, with home visits that build trust, ease family anxieties and send a clear message that every child is known and valued.
“Ms. Smith represents the very best of our profession, and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this honor.”
While there may be a shortage of teachers today, to Smith, there is no better profession and she encourages others to make that commitment.
“It gives you creativity and purpose, and incorporates social and emotional learning,” she said. “I think it gives you purpose because you’re building relationships with students and family.”
