Clinton Community District 15 announces the Teacher of the Year candidates for the 2018-2019 school year.  These candidates have exemplified excellence in and out of the classroom.  

Letters of recommendation are due no later than Friday, April 5. If you would like to write a letter on the behalf of any of these teachers, send them to:

TOY Committee c/o Jessie Peterson 

Clinton Elementary School

701 Illini Drive

Clinton, IL 61727

jpeterson@cusd15.org

Elizabeth Collier  

Elizabeth Collier is the Guidance Counselor at Clinton Elementary and Douglas School. Elizabeth graduated from St. Teresa High School in Decatur. She then went on to earn her Bachelors of Arts in Rehabilitation Services from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Elizabeth decided to continue on with her education as she felt she would better serve the younger population in the school setting. Elizabeth received her Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in schools from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2012. After graduation, Elizabeth began her counseling career in Clinton where she is completing her 7th year this year. For the past 7 years, Elizabeth has played a versatile role in the Clinton School District. She has counseled students individually and in groups, taught Character Education lessons in the classrooms, has been a part of several different committees and teams such as PBIS committee, Carnival committee, and Problem Solving team. Elizabeth is also the 504 Coordinator for the elementary buildings. Elizabeth is married to Jacob who is a maintenance technician for Decatur Public Schools. They have been married 2 ½ years! Outside of school, Elizabeth is an avid reader and enjoys spending time with her family.  

Amanda Douglas

Amanda Douglas is a school counselor at Clinton Junior High School and Lincoln Elementary School. Amanda was born and raised in Springfield, IL, where she graduated from Sacred Heart-Griffin High School. Amanda earned her Bachelors of the Arts in Psychology and Secondary Education from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana in 2004. She then earned her Masters of the Arts in Counseling with a concentration in School Counseling from Saint Louis University in 2006. She is also a National Board Certified School Counselor and maintains  designation as a Licensed Professional Counselor in Illinois. She has spent 13 years working as a school counselor in the Clinton School District. Amanda resides in Clinton with her family. Her two boys, Grady and Miles, also attend Clinton schools. Throughout her time with the school district, she has participated in many school leadership committees and groups such as Leaders Club sponsor, Clinton Education Foundation liaison, Dewitt County Youth Mental Health Forums, Dewitt County Youth Systems of Care, Building Leadership, Problem Solving Facilitator, and many more. Outside of school, Amanda enjoys time with her boys and their many athletic activities.

Renne Henne

Renee Henne is a special education teacher at Clinton Junior High School.  Renee graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Special Education.  She later went back to school at ISU to earn her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on reading.  Renee has taught at Clinton Junior High School for the last 28 years as a special education teacher, as well as being a coordinator of several programs and serving on a variety of committees. She has two children, Nathan and Brielle.  Nathan works at ADM and lives in Decatur with his wife, Mariah, and their two children, Ronan and Maisie.  Brielle is attending Fontbonne University in the graduate program for Speech and Language Pathology.  

Phyllis Marquis

Phyllis Marquis is a Physical Education and Health teacher at Clinton Junior High School. Phyllis graduated from St. Teresa High School in Decatur, Illinois and then attended Millikin University where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and graduated in 1990. Phyllis then earned her Masters of Science in Health Education at Illinois State University in 2005. She started teaching in Wapella in the fall of 1990 and then became part of the Clinton Junior High Staff in 1994 after the consolidation of the two districts. The 2018-2019 school year is her 29th year of teaching. She is married to Phil Marquis, who is retired from Caterpillar. Together they have one son, Beau who is currently a junior at Warrensburg Latham High School and they reside in Warrensburg.  She is a lover of sports and enjoys watching her son participate in all of his various activities. Over her 29 years of teaching, Phyllis has served on a number of various building and district committees, held coaching positions, and is active in the CEA at Clinton. She also has served as a volunteer and has had various roles on committees in the community in which she lives and goes to church.

Sheila Wayne

Sheila Wayne is currently teaching math fundamentals at Clinton Jr High. She is a Clinton native, graduating in the CHS class of 1988.  Sheila attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale receiving her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. She was hired in the fall of 1992 to teach remedial math at CJHS, while continuing her education.  She earned a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Illinois State University and added 48 additional hours specializing in middle school mathematics.    Much has changed over her twenty-seven years in the district. She helped implement 6th grade team teaching and enjoyed many years teaching math, science, and English.  She was involved with moving from the old jr. high to the current building, where she taught mathematics to 6th graders until the fall of 2011 when she moved to 8th grade. Thanks to some staff at CHS, Sheila met and married Jerry Wayne, now principal at CHS.  They have two children. Victoria is completing her third year at SIUC in Animal Science – Pre-Vet program, and Garrett is a junior at CHS.  Sheila has served on a variety of committees including building leadership team, CEA building representative, RTI committee, CEA audit committee, and CEA membership chair to name a few.  Sheila is very proud to be teaching in the community that she is from and lives in.  Along with her husband, she has made great friends and built strong bonds with the students and takes joy in seeing them succeed in life after graduation.