PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2012
MEDIA CONTACT
Jason Leahy, Executive Director
Phone:
217-525-1383
Fax:
217-525-7264
E-mail:
jason@ilprincipals.org
Illinois Principals Association names Rose Garlasco as
2012 Reaching Out & Building Bridges Award Recipient
Springfield, IL – Rose Garlasco, Assistant Principal at Maine South High School in Park Ridge, IL,
and Joint Community Resource and Recovery Team, also in Park Ridge, have received the 2012
Reaching Out & Building Bridges Award from the Illinois Principals Association and sponsored by
Horace Mann Companies.
The Reaching Out & Building Bridges Award was created to recognize an IPA principal or assistant
principal in addition to an agency, association, or community member displaying an outstanding
effort in creating partnerships between schools, principals, associations, and organizations for the
betterment of all.
In her position as Assistant Principal, Garlasco is responsible for student safety. Beginning in the
spring of 2002, Maine Township H.S. District 207 was awarded an Emergency Response and
Management Grant. “As part of the grant, Garlasco functioned as the grant manager for the district
and was instrumental in developing the Joint Community Resource and Recovery Team (JCRRT)
program,” said Kim Zinman, Principal of Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Buffalo Grove. “The
mission of JCRRT is to provide mental health support services to residents and responders in
times of community crisis.”
“Rose and members of JCRRT have responded to several crises: the death of a child at an
amusement park, several student suicide incidents in District 207, and the death of several adults
in the community,” Zinman said. “Rose has been able, along with JCRRT members, to sustain this
service to the schools and the community long after the grant ended. (She) identified a gap and
assisted in getting this group off the ground as well as keeping it moving forward. District 207,
police and fire, as well as the entire communities of Park Ridge and Des Plaines can benefit from
JCRRT’s assistance in a time of crisis.”
Garlasco will be recognized in October at a special ceremony during the Illinois Principals
Association Fall Professional Conference held in Peoria, IL.
The Illinois Principals Association serves over 4,200 educational leaders statewide and exists to
advance learning through effective educational leadership. The Reaching Out & Building Bridges
Award is supported by Horace Mann Companies of Springfield, IL.
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