GSW alum honored by Illinois teachers

GARDNER - Philip Jerbi, a Gardner native, received a plaque naming him Illinois Technology Educator of the Year last October for his teaching curriculum at Genoa-Kingston High School in Genoa. He was also named Illinois Drafting and Design Teacher of the Year in 2008.

Genoa-Kingston High also won the Field of Excellence Award from Pioneer Manufacturing for the design and maintenance of the school's football field. As a class project, Jerbi's students paint the lines and logos on the field and maintain the field using surveying, geometry and graphic design methodologies.

Jerbi was named the Illinois Technology Teacher of the Year for his work with implementing the "Model Classrooms Project" into the industrial technology curriculum at GKHS and for sharing this information through several presentations to teachers across the state.

On Nov. 13, 2008, Jerbi was presented with the Illinois Drafting Educators Association teacher of the year award. He was nominated for the award after five of his students were place-winners at the state drafting competition in spring 2008. Two of those students were state champions in their respective categories. It was the first time that a Class-A school had ever had two state champions in the same year in the history of competition, Jerbi said.

In addition, Jerbi's third and fourth-year students just finished a state-funded energy reduction grant proposal, for which the GKHS District was awarded $250,000 to make upgrades to the lighting fixtures in all five school buildings in the district. The information gathered about energy efficiency and energy costs throughout the district was gathered by the students with help of technology professionals. The lighting upgrades will cut the district's lighting energy costs in half.

A 1989 graduate of Gardner South Wilmington High School, Jerbi has taught industrial technology at Genoa-Kingston since 1995. He received degrees in architectural technology and advanced technical studies from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He received a master's in education administration from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. He revitalized the industrial technology program at GKHS, which had been terminated several years prior to his arrival.

In addition to coaching several sports during his years at GKHS, Jerbi started a drafting and design team at the school in 1996. The team has had at least two state qualifiers each year since, including three state champions.