Education
Focus
With over 100 years of educational experience between them, three
superintendents of school districts in Aurora will retire this school year after
serving the students and families of their respective districts.
Collect spring
showers with a
rain barrel
The City of Aurora and The Conservation
Foundation will team up again this year
to sell discounted rain barrels to residents.
Rain barrels collect water run-off from
rooftops for use on lawns and gardens,
conserving water in the hot summer
months.
Rain barrels:
• Reduce pollutants carried into the
Fox River during major storms.
• Conserve water that is otherwise
sourced from stressed underground
aquifers.
• Hydrate plants and gardens better with
naturally soft water free of minerals,
chlorine, and fluoride.
Mayor Weisner bids farewell to retiring superintendents (l to r): Dr. James Rydland
(West Aurora), Dr. Jerome Roberts (East Aurora), and Dr. Kathryn Birkett (Indian Prairie)
Rain barrels are available in four colors:
black, gray, blue or terra cotta, and at just
$58.50 plus tax – about 20 percent off
online retail prices – rain barrels are a
great deal for you and the environment.
For more information, or to place an order,
call The Conservation Foundation at
630-553-0687, ext. 302.
Indian Prairie School District 204:
Superintendent Kathryn Birkett has dedicated her entire career to the children of the
Indian Prairie School District. She began nearly 35 years ago as a teacher at Waubonsie
Valley High School then served as the first principal at both Steck Elementary and
Neuqua Valley High School when those buildings first opened. She joined the district’s
central administration team in 2004 as the assistant superintendent for secondary
education and has served the past five years as its superintendent.
West Aurora School District 129:
West Aurora Superintendent James Rydland’s career spans nearly 40 years. He began
his career in 1975 as a special education teacher in North Thurston Public Schools
in Lacey, Washington, where he served as an elementary teacher, high school teacher,
middle school assistant principal, elementary principal, director of curriculum
and assistant superintendent. In 2005, he moved to Illinois to take the reins as the
superintendent for the West Aurora School District.
East Aurora School District 131:
Superintendent Jerome Roberts has served the students of East Aurora in several
positions throughout his 35-year career in education. He started teaching at a middle
school in Joliet and held several administrative positions there and in Lockport before
coming to East Aurora High School, where he served as the principal from 1989 to
1993. After terms in Downers Grove, Calumet, and Fairmont, he returned to East
Aurora, first as its director of secondary programs, then assistant superintendent before
taking the district’s top job in 2006.
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