Sometimes the origin story can seem stilted. Too often trotted out. Too much rehearsed. But when Krish Mohip told our Amaris Rodriguez how he came to be an educator, we found it moving and sincere.
More importantly, we saw his story of personal trauma as he entered high school — his sister’s sudden death — to be immediately relevant to students in Proviso Township’s three high schools. Mohip, now District 209’s superintendent, explained that he started school at Niles North in a wave of depression. By the end of sophomore year his grades were poor and his dream of being in the school’s Honor Society was in the crapper.
But then came an intervention from his late sister’s counselor who moved him into an honors track on a probationary basis and then stuck with him. His grades soared and he earned a major scholarship for college.
His point is that many students at Proviso need active support and interventions to move them past stuck and into gear. Creating that system of support will be core to his leadership of this chronically failing school district. Monthly meetings starting this fall with deans, counselors and social workers will focus on individual students who are lost in the system. Individualized plans will be made for each student to help them move ahead.
It has been a whipsaw decade for the Proviso high schools. Jesse Rodriguez was hired as superintendent in 2016 by a school board pushing toward genuine reform of the district. He left when a more divided board did not provide him the support he sought. The grifter, James Henderson, came next and unleashed years of chaos and the undoing of progress.
Now we have Supt. Mohip, hired, remarkably, by a divided board after an almost comically botched search process. His focus on students, his determination to actively engage with teachers, staff, students and parents in decision-making is the healing style this district needs.
And after the April election, when fed-up Proviso voters handed reformers every seat on the school board, this is a moment when honest progress can be made. It will rightly be slow progress, as so much foundational work and cultural overhaul needs to be done. But that progress can come — with the right spirit of collaboration, with an end to the pitiful board drama that has dragged this district down.
Krish Mohip is an impressive leader. He needs to stay true to his instincts. The school board needs to hold down distractions. And then, over several years, we may see Proviso Township finally get the high schools it deserves and pays highly for.