Indian Prairie School District 204IPSD 204IPSD 204

Volunteer of the Month: October

Reported by webmaster@ipsd.org on 10/18/18

Gloria Caruso has volunteered at Brookdale Elementary for the past several years, even though she’s never had a child attend the school. Because she goes above and beyond as a community member to inspire all students to achieve their greatest potential, she is being honored as the October BMO Harris Bank District 204 Volunteer of the Month.

Gloria has three grown sons who all attended Longwood Elementary, Hill Middle School and Waubonsie Valley High School. She’s never had a child attend Brookdale Elementary but is now volunteering there EVERY Wednesday. Having always volunteered as her children were growing up, she started looking for opportunities to volunteer again when she retired in 2006. Through her friendship with a teacher, Gloria found the perfect opportunity to help students with their math and reading at Brookdale Elementary.

Her nomination states “The students love working with her, teachers are excited to have some data specific interventions in place and Brookdale is lucky to have her never-ending support.”

In addition to the time she spends at Brookdale, Gloria helps out with the food pantry and teaches Sunday school to pre-school children at her church. Along with her husband, she also volunteers with Operation Support Our Troops America packing comfort and care packages for our deployed troops. They also help with semi-annual meetings for families of our fallen military.

Gloria says she believes the meaning of life is to make a difference in some small way to help the life of another person and that we all need to give back for the blessings we have received.


(l to r) Laura Johnston, IPSD Assistant Superintendent | Adrian Mendieta, BMO Harris Bank Vice President | Gloria Caruso, Volunteer of the Month | Leah Steinhauser-Walsh, Brookdale Elementary Teacher

BMO Harris Bank is helping District 204 recognize one volunteer each month who has generously given his or her time to support District 204's students and schools. To celebrate these outstanding volunteers, BMO Harris Bank is donating $1,000 to the volunteer's school. To nominate an outstanding volunteer, visit Volunteer of the Month.

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