After 13 years of service as the superintendent for Lemont High School District 210, Dr. Mary Ticknor prepares for her retirement. Ticknor’s 40-year career in education began as a math teacher and eventually flourished into her superintendent position.
During Ticknor’s superintendency, she led the district through a pandemic, LHS was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2017 and other countless school advancements have been made.
“The academic reputation of the students at [LHS]… just continues to increase over the 13 years I’ve been here,” Ticknor said. “Our school is noted for high-achieving, hardworking students who come to school ready to learn and I think that’s become more widely known and it keeps getting better and better.”
Ticknor recounts that, “[COVID-19] was the most stressful period of [her career].” Despite the stress, the district was able to handle the situation and continue towards academic success.
Right before the COVID-19 pandemic, the district moved forward with the decision to go to a one-to-one learning environment, with each student receiving their own Chromebook. The technological infrastructure was reconstructed with the intention of supporting every student having a device. With learning how to teach with technology, Ticknor believed that many veteran teachers felt “like being a first year teacher all over again.” Despite the massive shift in the learning environment, this change allowed for further progress towards a contemporary learning environment.
Ticknor’s responsibilities vary immensely and stretch past the parameters of LHS. Ticknor serves as a voice for LHS in collaboration with other schools with participation in programs such as WILCO or the special education co-op.Ticknor also advocates for LHS on the federal level, traveling to Washington D.C. bi-annually to “meet with legislators on Capitol Hill to urge them to continue funding the federal impact aid program.”
LHS qualifies for the federal Impact Aid program due to Argonne National Laboratory being within the school district boundaries, causing less tax money to come into the school which is compensated by federal aid.
While Ticknor’s work is ongoing, she is also “working with Dr. Maxwell, who will be the new superintendent to make sure the transition goes well and he will be left with a good situation,” similar to the good situation that Ticknor expressed she received from Dr. Sandra Doebert when transitioning in from Doebert’s retirement.
Ticknor’s advice to her younger self is to “make time to maintain your health within your schedule. [because when] you are responsible for a lot of people you are usually taking care of them and not yourself.”
As current students and faculty continue their work at LHS, Ticknor advises to “get to know people,” build relationships with people at LHS and do not be so quick to judge.
As Ticknor approaches her retirement, she expresses that she will miss the constant challenge of superintendency and, most importantly, the people she worked with.
We wish the best for Ticknor in her retirement.
