Sangamon Sun

At the Jan. 3 meeting of the Springfield School District 186 school board, the board was shown a video about Shelby Green Owuso, who teaches at Franklin Middle School in the special education department. The two-minute video showed Green Owuso with her students in the classroom, and her talking about her passion for being able to give something to kids that they will use in their future.

“This is what I'm supposed to be doing, becoming the teacher I know I was meant to be,” Green Owuso said in the video. “If I get the opportunity to impact one child's life, I want to be able to say: that was my student, and I'm so proud of how far they've come.”

In the video, Director of Student Support Services for District 186 Meg Thurman recalls when she was initially asked to evaluate Green Owuso in the classroom. She said it was quickly evident that she was a bright young teacher who inspires both her students and her colleagues.

Green Owuso joined the Golden Apple Accelerators Program in December of 2021, and was accepted into the accelerated classes at Blackburn College in 2022. She started student teaching at Franklin Middle school in 2022 and will begin as a full-time teacher for the district in the fall of 2023.

The board uploaded a livestream of its public meeting to the district’s YouTube channel.

In other business, the board voted to approve a bid of $593,439 for HVAC upgrades at Ridgely Elementary School.

The board will meet again at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 17 at 1900 West Monroe St.