Radostits, two students to visit White House for back-to-school event

OREGON – Two Oregon teachers and two students are going to the White House Back to School Open House Saturday in Washington, D.C.

Oregon High School Spanish teacher and 2022 Illinois Teacher of the Year Kimberly Radostits and a few community members of her choice were invited to the Aug. 26 back-to-school event.

Radostits will be accompanied by Oregon Junior-Senior High School Assistant Principal Shannon Cremeens and OJSHS seniors Marcus Gilberto and Nora Hammer. Gilberto and Hammer are aspiring teachers.

“I selected Shannon Cremeens because she co-directs the New Teacher Academy with me, and two seniors that plan on getting into the profession,” Radostits wrote in an Aug. 22 email to Shaw Media.

The White House Back to School Open House is a private event extended to state teachers of the year and a few guests from their community. There will be White House tours, and guests are invited to share reasons they are optimistic about the 2023-24 school year. Submissions will be featured in a new East Wing installation that will be part of the public tour route of the White House.

Radostits, of Fairdale, was named 2022 Illinois Teacher of the Year on March 22, 2022, and one of five finalists for the 2023 National Teacher of the Year on Jan. 25. She has been a teacher for 16 years.

On April 19, Rebecka Peterson, a high school math teacher from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was announced as the 2023 National Teacher of the Year.