Educator Expertise Focuses School Board on Student Outcomes

Shin, a graduate of the Master of Arts with Elementary Certification Program, was elected to her local Board of Education in April 2021. Her district, the Community Consolidated School District 181, is located about 20 miles west of Chicago and primarily serves the communities of Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills. Shin served on two board committees as a community member before deciding to run for office. Her three children currently attend D181 schools, and she is an active volunteer on the Parent Teacher Organization, having served as president, vice president, and the chair of 10 different PTO committees.

When asked what motivated her to run for the board, Shin shared that she “had a really good track record of caring about the district” and that “student growth and achievement were number one” for her. She explained that since being in the district, she has seen a lot of leadership turnover, and felt like their “histories were getting muddled” by the constant changes. Three years ago, the new district administration ushered in changes Shin was able to endorse as a community member on the board’s Academic Success Committee. By serving as an elected school board member, Shin wants to provide the stability and continuity that the district found in the last three years with the current administration’s direction.

But running for school board during a global pandemic posed unique challenges, including unprecedented interest in candidates' stances on reopening schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I wasn't running for a single issue,” Shin said. “I wasn't running just because of the pandemic and that was the one thing I wanted people to know. My reasons for wanting to be on the board, to go above and beyond for a four-year term, were not just about the one problem that we're looking at right now.”

Shin found numerous ways to engage voters throughout the election, keeping voters’ safety and preferred interaction styles in mind. She held a meet-and-greet over Zoom, as well as in-person meetings outdoors and at a local venue abiding by the Center for Disease Control’s guidelines on social distancing like setting up chairs six feet apart. Although there was some appetite for engagement over social media, Shin preferred to speak directly to community members instead of interacting online. “I did not want to be a social media campaign person. I didn't want to be answering things on Facebook group pages. I did the inverse of Facebook groups,” Shin said. When possible she spoke with people in person in socially distanced ways, but most of the time she spoke with people over the phone, answering questions about school reopenings and quickly shifting the conversation to student outcomes.

“In my district, for as long as I've been paying attention, I don't know if we had an educator on the board. We've had plenty of finance people, lawyers, doctors, but I may be the first person with a teaching background in a while,” Shin said.

After graduating from the ELMAC program, Shin taught in Detroit and Charlottesville, Virginia, where she also served as the lead writer for the first grade language arts curriculum and as a district-wide literacy professional development trainer. After moving to Illinois, she worked briefly as an independent writer and editor for reading and phonics programs. Her experience as an educator, parent, and committee volunteer, won her a seat on the Board of Education in what ultimately became an uncontested race. More importantly, her fellow community members recognize her commitment to the district’s students and are hopeful for what she will accomplish during her tenure. In an opinion submitted to their local newspaper, Hinsdale residents Katie Stromberg, Denys Kang, and Jenny Boots had the following to say about Shin:

“Grace is a woman of high integrity, and she is passionate about students and how they will shape the future. We trust that her care and passion as well as her experience in working with students and families from all backgrounds and academic strengths will give her wonderful insight and wisdom as a school board member.”