My name is Itedal Shalabi and I am running for the North Palos District 117 School Board.  As a School Board member I will represent students, parents, teachers and community members in North Palos District 117.

The mission of North Palos School District 117 is to “create a positive, caring, learning environment, which fosters excellence and active student participation and to ensure that every student will realize his/her full potential as a socially responsible lifelong learner.”

Our current board did an excellent job in making North Palos School District a “beacon of excellence” and ensuring that “all of its children” achieve their full potential during the developmental stages.  Now that we are in the growth period and continued building stages our board needs more diversity.  Our schools enjoy a high level of diversity and we all embrace the richness of our multi-cultural school communities. We currently have over twenty-five different languages or dialects spoken among the children in our schools.

I have my Master’s of Social Work from the Jane Adams College of Social Work from UIC. I’m Co-Founder and Executive Director of Arab American Family Services in Bridgeview, IL a social service organization providing services to those in need. Therefore, my experience in management will be a valuable asset to the board. I will be an active voice at school board meetings for all students, faculty, parents and community members.  I also want to engage even greater numbers of community residents in the educational process, so that school board decisions continue to truly reflect the community’s aspirations for its children. A school system is in the business of producing good kids who can go on to other things in life and make a positive contribution.  The board’s role in this is to make sure that teachers’ and administrators have all the tools possible to do the job.

I have been a resident of Bridgeview for the past 10 years and proud mother of three wonderful young men: Ameen 21, Suhiab 18, and Baha 16.

Vote for me on April 5th by punching number 104 and together we will keep our schools fostering the needs of our future.