Danville native gets top teacher award

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Jacob Gourley, center, poses for a photo with his parents Jeannette and Gene Gourley.

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June 14, 2010

BY MARY WICOFF Commercial-News The Commercial-News Mon Jun 14, 2010, 12:09 AM CDT

DANVILLE — When Jacob Gourley was young, he would come home from school and teach his little sister.

“He always loved the classroom,” his mother, Jeannette Gourley of Danville, said.

So, when Gourley was named one of 10 recipients of the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching, his family wasn’t surprised.

“We’re very proud of him,” his mother said. “He’s very passionate about his teaching and says he’ll always be in the classroom.

“He loves it and he’s an excellent natural teacher.”

His father is Gene Gourley, who was a teacher, coach and athletic director at Danville High School before retiring in 2000.

The younger Gourley, 34, just finished his 12th year as a history teacher at Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing. He’s a 1998 graduate of DHS.

“It’s pretty exciting,” he said in a telephone interview.

The 10 high-school teachers in the Chicago area were chosen from a pool of 562 nominees. The award honors teachers for their contributions to building a stronger, better-educated citizenry.

Each recipient receives a tuition-free, six-month sabbatical to study at Northwestern University next spring, as well as a $3,000 cash award. They will be honored at a televised black-tie event in Chicago in October.

Gourley said he hasn’t decided which specific subject he’ll study at Northwestern. All 10 recipients will attend a seminar class.

Gourley decided he wanted to be a teacher when he was in sixth grade — thanks to the example of Paula Hurst, who taught language arts and history at North Ridge Middle School. She retired in 2007.

In his application letter, he wrote in-depth about how she inspired him, challenged him and taught him how to think and learn.

Hurst said Gourley gives her more credit than she deserves, noting that he was an excellent student.

“If teachers had more students like Jacob, teaching would be a pleasure, not a job,” she said. “He was just so interested in everything.”

Something sparked between teacher and student, she said, adding, “You have to connect with kids so they buy in to what you’re saying. Now, he’s passing that on to a new generation of kids. He’s making such a difference.

“He’s just a wonderful young man.”

Gourley said he’s proud to have grown up in Danville and he shares the award with all of his teachers in Danville District 118.

“Teachers are the compilation of the goodness others have invested in them,” he said. “I pay forward all the things that have happened in my life.”

At Danville High, he was chosen as a Golden Apple Scholar. Five of his students have received that award, as well.

Gourley submitted a 20-page application answering several questions, such as describing a typical day and his expectations for students. After he was chosen as one of 30 finalists, Golden Apple officials went to his school to watch him work and spent an hour talking with some of his students.

When he won the award, the presenters surprised him in his classroom.

Golden Apple winners become Fellows of the Golden Apple Academy of Educators, which gives them professional development and a chance to mentor future teachers.

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