It was an exciting day at Carpenter as one of our own was honored as a Symetra Chicago Bears Hero in the Classroom. Every year, Symetra and the Chicago Bears honor 16 Chicagoland teachers as heroes in the classroom. This year, Sue Douglass, a Carpenter teacher for 19 years, who currently teaches 3rd grade, was honored. Carpenter students were encouraged to wear their Bears apparel under the premise that there was an all-school assembly with the theme "Kickoff the New Year." Everyone, especially Mrs. Douglass, was surprised to hear that the real meaning of the assembly was to celebrate her winning her award. Representatives from Gallagher and the Chicago Bears were on hand to award Mrs. Douglass. George McCaskey of the Chicago Bears presented Mrs. Douglass with tickets to the Bears/Dallas game on Thursday night, December 4th with a parking pass and sideline privileges before the game. The team will also be honoring her on the video scoreboard during the game. Mrs. Douglass received an autographed football and her very own Douglass Bears jersey. Representatives from Gallagher presented her with a $1000 check to be utilized at Carpenter. The assembly ended with a video presentation from Bears kicker, Robbie Gould. Mrs. Douglass' daughter also emailed a video congratulations from Houston, Texas which was shared. It was an exciting celebration for Mrs. Douglass and Carpenter. Look for stories in the local newspaper. We intend to share the video of the event soon. Dr. Heinz, Mr. Martin, Mrs. Tramm from our district office, Mrs. Douglass' family, and local press members were all on hand for the event. Coach Inserra of Maine South, came to Carpenter to congratulate Mrs. Douglass as well. Mrs. Douglass is a huge Bears and Maine South Hawks football fan!