When the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) scores arrived in 2023, Martinsville Elementary faced a reckoning. Numbers had dipped low enough to earn a targeted designation, with special education results in particular sounding alarms. For the staff, it wasn’t a matter of pride—it was a matter of knowing the scores didn’t reflect the students or the teachers they worked with every day.

Superintendent Bob Waggoner, new to the role, knew the situation required more than a pep talk. It required strategy, resolve, and a core group of educators who could model leadership for the entire school. So, he convened the School Leadership Team—a cross-section of Martinsville’s most trusted and engaged teachers, representing various grade levels, expertise, and perspectives. They weren’t chosen by obligation; they weren’t ‘voluntold.’ They simply stepped up.

Around that table sat Amanda Gullquist, Bethani Conzen, Rachel Johnson, Sheri Cooper, Nici Evers, Natalie Young, and Lynn Smith. Each brought a different angle of experience. Together, they represented a continuum: lower grades, upper grades, reading support, intervention, administration, and seasoned classroom experience that stretched across a broad gamut.

“They didn’t have to do this,” said Sheri Cooper, Martinsville Elementary Principal. “They chose to. And that makes all the difference.”

The first step was candid analysis. Curriculum maps from kindergarten through sixth grade were spread across the table. Where were the gaps? Which skills were being missed? How were our students being prepared—or not prepared—for the third-grade benchmark test? “We found holes,” Bethani Conzen said plainly. “And once you find them, you can do something about them.” A problem defined is a problem half-solved.

What followed was not a quick fix but a coordinated rebuild. Martinsville Elementary invested in a layered approach: Eureka Math for K-2, Reveal Math for 3-6, and IXL to target individual practice. Reading instruction, long centered on Fountas & Pinnell, shifted to a more structured, step-by-step curriculum that left little to chance. “It’s a lot,” admitted one teacher, “but now we know first-graders are getting exactly what they need to move into second, and so on.”

For second-grade teacher Lynn Smith, the motivation was simple: “When kids aren’t successful, it makes us feel like we’re the cause of it. So why wouldn’t you want to work hard to get the scores up?”

But strategy wasn’t enough. The team recognized that students needed to want to do well on the test. Partnering with the PTO, they built a system of rewards that transformed testing season into something students looked forward to rather than dreaded. Tickets earned through focus and effort could be traded by students for prizes—bicycles, Stanley cups, even fishing poles. “Not just rinky-dink prizes,” said Natalie Young. “Things kids really wanted.”

High school students pitched in too, making posters and hype videos to fire up their younger peers. What had once been a nerve-wracking week became a full-school, full-community rally.

Within a single year, Martinsville Elementary leapt from targeted to commendable, missing the exemplary category by a scant 3.81 points—a level reached by only 10 percent of Illinois schools. “It wasn’t luck,” said Nici Evers, who had returned to Martinsville after time away. “It was strategy, and it was everybody working together.”

The teachers measure their progress not against neighboring schools but against themselves. As Sheri Cooper explained, “We tell our students the same thing: it’s not about your neighbor’s success. It’s about your personal growth. That’s how we look at our school, too.”

For reading specialist Rachel Johnson, the effort was about more than numbers. “Reading is one of the best predictors of academic outcome,” she said. Her role gave her a unique vantage point—she works with every student in the building. She and her colleague Jenn spearheaded changes that built stronger foundations in early literacy. “If a student can read, it carries into everything else,” Johnson explained. “That’s where we can change trajectories.”

Still, the story of Martinsville isn’t only about test scores. Ask the teachers, and they’ll point to the culture of the school—the family-like atmosphere that makes students reluctant to leave when the bell rings. “On the last day of school, you’d expect kids to go running out,” one teacher noted. “I’ve seen ours sit on the porch and cry because it’s over.”

Then there’s the story of a student who once told a teacher, “School—it’s just my home. It’s my family.” For the team, that moment was a reminder of why the work matters.

“We’re fortunate,” said Amanda Gullquist, “because the people here are just kind, welcoming, and passionate about kids. That’s our common denominator. That’s what makes us different.”

The team is proud of its new designation, but like so many worthy journeys, they know theirs isn’t finished. They continue to meet, refine their strategies, and work closely with the junior high to ensure a smoother transition for students leaving sixth grade.

When they first gathered as a leadership team, the teachers had T-shirts printed with a simple motto: Progress over perfection. It became more than a slogan—it became a way of thinking.

As Waggoner put it, Martinsville Elementary’s leap wasn’t a fluke. It was the result of talented, hardworking teachers stepping up, working together, and believing that their students were capable of more. In that, they proved something essential: action beats inaction, and steady progress is the surest path to excellence. Commendable, to be sure, and for Martinsville Elementary, the journey continues.