The annual Back to School Bash presented by the Evergreen Park School District 124 Foundation is always a lot of fun, but for winners of a variety of raffle prizes, some of the fun has to wait. 

For Northwest third grade student Angela, her big day came on May 31, 2023, when she finally served as Superintendent for the Day and got to be in charge of D124 schools.

“I won and I was surprised and happy, but I didn’t know what a superintendent was,” said Angela. “My mom told me it’s someone who is the boss of the principals and teachers and then I got really excited.”

D124 Superintendent Dr. Woodland made sure that there was going to be plenty for Angela to do when she took over. She met the district office team, signed off on some accounts payable in the business office and helped Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Carlson set up a staff survey and some emails. Most importantly, she made a phone call to her principal Dr. Banach and told him that the following day would officially be a no-homework day, which he of course approved, since she’s the boss.

She also helped Dr. Woodland with her speech for the eighth grade graduation ceremony, fixing two things along the way, got to go out to lunch and for an afternoon walk, and got to take home a book to read. She has learned a lot about what a superintendent does and is considering the profession while still maybe wanting to be an astronaut.

“Superintendents do a lot of typing and stuff,” said Angela. “It’s a lot of talking to people too. My friends will be super jealous and I will be excited to tell them about how the district has 300 employees and that I helped with the graduation speech.”

When she is not running a school district, Angela loves math and science and can’t wait to learn more about both subjects in fourth grade next year. She is also working on a book called “The Last Pizza on Earth” which will be a fun adventure story about what would happen if the world ran out of pizza. 

“We had the best time,” said Dr. Woodland. “She is just so fun and was excited about everything. Since I used to teach math, I am so happy that she loves math and I think she will be a great superintendent or astronaut, whatever she decides to do!”