Chicago, IL (April 30, 2007)—Elizabeth Grelle, kindergarten teacher at the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Frances Xavier Warde School, has been chosen as a 2007 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Best of Field Award winner. Grelle is one of five outstanding educators chosen following a final application process that included site visits and interviews by members of the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators.

“Children are most successful when they are taught using developmentally appropriate activities based on a hands-on and individualized approach,” said Grelle, who resides in Chicago’s Lincoln Park area. “A personal and academic bond must be formed between each student and me before the real teaching can begin. This bond also needs to extend to a personal level as well. Once there is a mutual respect between us, the power of teaching is unlimited,” she added.

Grelle will be honored at the 2007 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards luncheon ceremony, June 5 at the Westin River North in Chicago. At that time, she will receive: $5,000 cash, a $1,000 cash award for Frances Xavier Warde School, a classroom visit from the Kohl McCormick Story Bus, a classroom field trip to the Kohl Children's Museum, and a graduate-level course at Chicago's Erikson Institute. Grelle will also be inducted into the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators.

The McCormick Tribune Foundation and the Dolores Kohl Education Foundation sponsor the Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards program.