Serving on a Board of Education is equal parts gratifying and demanding. District 113 welcomed Stacey Meyer into the role early this year. Ms. Meyer called her election to the board “an honor.”
Elected in April, Ms. Meyer entered a school district that received that same month the community’s approval of a referendum to make significant capital improvements to its two schools, Deerfield High School and Highland Park High School. Also elected to the board in April was Board Member Julie Gordon.
“We’re starting from a great place: great administrators, great parents and students and a great community,” Ms. Meyer said. “It’s a supportive district. Everybody is there to help a student in the best way,” she said.
Find out what's happening in Highland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Ms. Meyer came ready for the challenges ahead. For the past 5 years, she has been working for The Schuler Scholar Program, an organization that prepares under-resourced students with high potential to succeed at top-tier private colleges and universities.
Many of those students are the first in their family to attend college, and need financial assistance. Often, the smaller-sized liberal arts schools prove to be the best option, she said.
Find out what's happening in Highland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In essence, the Schuler program attempts to level the playing field, making sure as many students as possible can access the resources that other students might already have. The program includes academic enrichment, mentors and support groups to help the students navigate the higher-education process both ahead of and during their college years.
Ms. Meyer first served as a Schuler program director, and now manages human resources.
Her dedication to education for all students served her well at Schuler and remains her guiding principle at District 113. “I have a passion for education. It is the key to success,” she said. “Without it, life is very difficult; with it, great things can happen.”
Ahead of her current position, Ms. Meyer worked in managerial marketing positions at PepsiCo and Quaker Oats, and also served on the board of the Cabrini Green Tutoring program.
She said she is deeply committed to seeing that students have an opportunity to “color outside the lines” on the road to developing critical thinking skills during their high school years.
Of her interest in education: “It’s an obsession,” she said. “(To) see the students I’ve had at Schuler who really want this opportunity” is to understand how precious education is, she said.
Ms. Meyer serves on the policy and referendum’s education committees.
“I have found it an unbelievable privilege to be on this board. Everybody on the board is student-focused. They are committed and dedicated to helping the community. It has been the utmost pleasure to see behind the scenes, the dedication and quality,” she said.
Ms. Meyer has a son who is currently a sophomore at DHS.
