
Three West Aurora School District educators appointed to new roles
West Aurora School District 129 has appointed three educators to new roles for the 2025-26 school year.
The appointments are Crystal Dvorak as principal of McCleery Elementary School, Peter Linden as assistant principal of Fearn Elementary School and Lindsey Pilmer as assistant principal at Goodwin Elementary School.
Dvorak currently serves as assistant principal of Schneider Elementary School, district officials said.
She previously was an assistant principal of Hill Elementary School and principal of Freeman Elementary School in District 129.
Dvorak has held administrative roles for more than a decade, including serving as principal of Marseilles Elementary School in Marseilles, Illinois, and assistant principal of Grand Reserve Elementary School in Yorkville.
Linden currently serves as dean of students at Jewel Middle School, district officials said.
He previously was a fifth-grade teacher in a sheltered/blended classroom at Greenman Elementary School in the district, where he supported English learners from a wide range of language and cultural backgrounds, district officials said.
Pilmer currently is a reading specialist at Freeman Elementary School. She served as Freeman's acting assistant principal earlier this school year, district officials said.
She brings more than a decade of classroom and instructional leadership experience, including serving as a reading specialist in West Aurora and Plainfield School District 202, according to the district.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
My Mind Is Blown After Finding Out What The Letters In "A.M." And "P.M." Actually Mean
Americans use many abbreviations in everyday speech and writing. Shorthands like 'yd' for yard and 'a/c' for air conditioning are pretty straightforward, but there are some misconceptions about others. For example, take 'a.m.' and 'p.m.' People in the US are constantly thinking and talking about time in terms of a.m. and p.m., but if you ask someone what those letters stand for, you may be surprised how little people actually know about the abbreviations. Some say it's 'after midnight' or 'past midday,' but that isn't exactly true... In fact, like many words and phrases in the English language, a.m. is short for a Latin phrase, 'ante meridiem' (or 'before midday'), while p.m. is short for 'post meridiem' (or 'after midday'). While there isn't a ton of information out there about when exactly a.m. and p.m. came into popular use in the English language, the 12-hour timekeeping system dates back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. During the Renaissance period, mechanical clocks with 12-hour analog dials appeared in churches and palaces throughout Europe. Today, most of the world uses a 24-hour system, while many English-speaking countries follow the 12-hour clock. In the places that use the 12-hour standard, there is some debate around what to use for noon and midnight. By convention, people in the US say 12 p.m. in reference to noon and 12 a.m. for midnight. But some believe that going from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. and from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. is confusing. Others would argue that noon and midnight are neither a.m. nor p.m. since noon IS midday, it can't technically be ante meridiem or post meridiem midday. Likewise, midnight is both 12 hours before midday and 12 hours after midday, which makes it confusing to choose between a.m. or p.m. To avoid this confusion, many prefer '12 midnight' or '12 noon,' but that can seem a bit redundant, given that 'noon' or 'midnight' alone convey the same information. A lesser-known option is to denote noon with 'm' for 'meridiem,' as in 12 m ― though you run the risk of people interpreting that as '12 midnight.' Given all the confusion and debate, maybe we should go with the 24-hour military time and be done with it? After all, who doesn't love staying up late on Dec. 31 to shout 'Happy New Year!' at zero hundred hours? (Or is it twenty-four hundred hours?) This article originally appeared on HuffPost.


Los Angeles Times
4 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Opinion: An Unsung Hero: Voice of Refugees
While the rise of activism has spread awareness about various nonprofit organizations, many that change lives still go unnoticed. Voice of Refugees (VOR), located in Anaheim, California, is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to aiding refugees in Southern California as they navigate through the challenges of resettlement. Their wide array of resources, emotional support, and dedicated volunteers helps restore a sense of belonging among the refugees who have lost their homes and identity due to the consequences of violence, war, and to Chris Khoury, Voice of Refugees' Executive Director, VOR started as a small group of volunteers led by immigrants from Jordan and Palestine in 2009. Seeing that their neighbors, who were also volunteers, needed assistance acclimating to the United States, the founders started teaching Arabic and English and providing furniture from their garage to those in need. Overtime, as they gathered more volunteers and refugees, they evolved into a nonprofit organization with the goal of providing the refugee community with a voice of their own, thus the name, Voice of Refugees. Khoury shared an interesting anecdote behind the organization's name. Voice of Refugees isn't grammatically correct, highlighting the fact that it's named and created by immigrants. Only knowing minimal English, the founders didn't catch this small grammatical error while filing for their nonprofit organization, and they didn't realize how they're changing the intent behind their name. Intending for their name to represent the various voices of different refugees, their name speaks to a collective voice shared by refugees. With the goal of breaking barriers to integration in mind, three main services are catered to helping refugees be independent in the US. For one, VOR offers free English classes, varying in difficulty, taught three days a week over 10-week sessions. The teachers are volunteers, and each class usually includes 3-4 students. The volunteers work with the students, teaching them vocabulary, grammar, and conversational phrases. Beginner classes focus on teaching the refugees the basics of English, emphasizing conversation and everyday language. Advanced classes start to incorporate the nuances of the English language, such as syntax and how to write. Secondly, a large part of independence in Southern California is the ability to drive, so VOR has driving simulations and assistance that teaches the refugees how to drive. This simulation is free for the refugees to use whenever they want, and they can even request an instructor to sit next to them while they practice. Once both the refugees and instructor feel that it's time for the behind-the-wheel test, volunteers help the refugees register and drive them to their testing place. Lastly, through VOR's partnerships with companies like Chick-fil-A and Upwardly Global, Khoury states that refugees get guidance with every part of the job search and application process, often scoring a stable job at the end of the program. Volunteers show refugees how to build their resume and prepare for interviews through workshop sessions and mock interviews, respectively. At the end of this program, refugees are equipped with the skills needed to successfully find a job in the these services are a notable part of VOR, the organization also acknowledges how emotionally difficult it is to be uprooted one moment and expected to settle down somewhere completely new. To combat emotional trauma, VOR offices are open to refugees who can visit offices freely, without appointments.'Voice of Refugees exists to serve people with dignity, ensuring they feel seen, valued, and supported,' a Khoury said. Despite the successes of VOR, this organization still lacks the resources and funding that bigger government owned organizations have. Because it still relies on donors and sponsors, any contribution ripples and creates a huge impact for the organization and the refugees. Besides donating, there are several other ways someone can get involved and make the world a better place. If you are able to, volunteer to teach English, donate your unwanted items, such as food or furniture, or support VOR's mission through financial contributions. To learn more or support the Voice of Refugees, visit Related


Axios
5 hours ago
- Axios
Ask Axios: What's a "Boston Brahmin?"
Thanks to the New York Times mini crossword puzzle Tuesday, lots of people in Massachusetts were googling "Boston Brahmin types" to find the right five-letter answer. Why it matters: The Brahmins were about the closest early America came to aristocracy. Their inherited privilege and wealth shaped the country's idea of the upper class. The term describes the area's historic elite English families who came to dominate the culture and economics of Massachusetts from the 18th to 20th Centuries. Think old-money families like the Adamses, Cabots and Lowells. They mostly lived around Beacon Hill and the Back Bay, and usually had strong ties to Harvard and other exclusive private schools. The phrase is a play on the top class in the Hindu caste system.