2024
2024
On April 29, 2024, Teach For America Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana surprised alumni Brittanee Rolle and Barton Dassinger at their schools to share that they are 2024 winners of the prestigious Teach For America Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana Alumni of the Year Awards. These awards recognize outstanding individuals who have made a significant impact in the field of education and have shown exceptional dedication to their students and communities. Each award comes with a $5,000 prize.
Recognizing Alumni Making an Impact Toward Education Equity
The Alumni of the Year awards honor distinguished alumni teachers and school leaders who have shaped the education landscape and strengthened our alumni community. Each award winner receives a $5,000 prize for their dedication to educational equity.
The Frances and Elliot Lehman Alumni of the Year Award
Brittanee Rolle
Brittanee Rolle (‘14 Greater Chicago–Northwest Indiana) received the Frances and Elliot Lehman Alumni of the Year Award, which honors outstanding culturally responsive teaching. Rolle is a high school English teacher at Butler College Prep in the Roseland/Pullman neighborhood. She has been a dedicated teacher for 10 years and recently won the Noble Schools Distinguished Teacher Award. Rolle is an activist who has used writing to allow her students to understand their identities and culture and makes learning relevant to their own community. Rolle has traveled to Antarctica as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow with National Geographic, she studied Black English and its relevance to the English classroom as a Chicago Public Education Fund Fellow, and designed a journalism opportunity for students where they were paid journalists, writing about their neighborhoods in the South Side Weekly, funded by author and professor Eve L. Ewing.
The Zell Family Alumni of the Year Award
Barton Dassinger
Barton Dassinger (‘98 Rio Grande Valley) received the Zell Family Alumni of the Year Award, which honors outstanding school leadership. He has been a principal for over 17 years at two different Chicago Public Schools. Currently, he serves as the principal of Cesar E Chávez, a PK – 8th grade open-enrollment neighborhood school in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. His school has been in the top district ranking for the last 14 consecutive years, with a population of 99% of students qualifying for free or reduced priced meals and over 50% qualifying for bilingual education. As a designated “Independent School Principal” in CPS, Barton formally mentors interning principals, advises the district on its performance policy, and annually leads a principal PLC focused on improving grading practices. Additionally, he has developed websites used to help thousands of students select a CPS high school and hundreds of CPS administrators analyze grading data.
