ALTON - During their regular meeting on Jan. 21, 2025, the Alton Community Unit School District #11 Board of Education recognized Sarah Magary-Burns, the recipient of the Emerson Excellence in Education Award.
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The Emerson Company recognizes over 100 teachers every year in the St. Louis metropolitan area, from kindergarten teachers to college professors. Alton Superintendent Elaine Kane commended Magary-Burns for the hard work she demonstrates every day.
“Let me tell you, Sarah does not like attention. Nothing about what she does is to get attention or recognition,” Kane said. “We’re going to put her on the spot here because she deserves it, and it’s really important because she represents excellence in the profession. We have so many teachers here to celebrate, and she is an excellent representative of the work that we do here in Alton.”
Magary-Burns currently teaches second grade at North Elementary School. In the past, she has taught at Lewis and Clark Elementary School, East Elementary School, Gilson Brown Elementary School and Lovejoy Elementary School. She has served as a kindergarten assistant and reading interventionist as well as a teacher for first, second, third and fourth grades.
“Sarah has been in quite a position where sometimes class sizes changed and she would get moved, or things just kept happening,” Kane explained. “This poor woman, but every time, she just continued to put her heart and soul into serving her students, whatever her assignment.”
Kane shared that Magary-Burns was unexpectedly assigned to teach third grade last year following a class size fluctuation. She spent “hundreds of hours” preparing to teach this grade level, and her students went on to outperform the district and state average proficiency on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness test.
Her current second grade class is on track to do the same thing. Her students have demonstrated a 34% improvement in their reading level from the beginning of the year, which Kane pointed to as an example of Magary-Burns’s impressive work.
“We’re grateful to have Mrs. Magary in any Alton classroom,” she said. “If you step into the classroom, you’re not just going to see students learning. You’re going to see them having fun. The sights and sounds of her classroom include loads of smiles and laughter.”
Magary-Burns began teaching in the Alton School District in 2008. She graduated from SIUE with a master’s degree in 2013. Kane thanked her for her years of service and her continued commitment to her students.
“She models patience, kindness, optimism and high expectations,” Kane added. “Teachers like Sarah Magary-Burns make it look easy. The fact is that she has invested an incredible amount of time and talent to be an excellent teacher for our students. It is with tremendous Red Bird pride and appreciation that we recognize Mrs. Sarah Magary-Burns as this year’s Alton School District Excellence in Education honoree.”
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