Donna DeVito Gets Top Honors for ESL Work

Donna DeVito, a teacher at Madison Elementary School in Hinsdale, just won the 2026 Elliot Judd Outstanding Teacher Award. This award is a big deal – it’s given by the Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages – Bilingual Education to honor teachers who go above and beyond for their students.

What Makes DeVito So Special?

DeVito’s been teaching at Madison for nine years, and she’s got a ton of experience working with kids who are learning English as a second language. She doesn’t just teach – she also works with small groups of students to help them improve their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. And get this – she’s always coming up with cool projects that connect her students to the world around them. Like the time they made wristbands for refugees or sent postcards to kids overseas.

Karen O’Connor, the communications director for Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181, says DeVito’s award is a proof to her hard work and dedication. Madison Principal Katherine Zulauf agrees – she says DeVito has a way of making every student feel seen and valued, and that her impact goes far beyond the classroom.

DeVito herself is pretty humble about the whole thing. She says she’s just lucky to have the best teaching job in the world, and that the award really belongs to her students and their families.