Teacher, mentor, assistant principal and friend. Throughout 25 years of working at VHHS, Dr. Jon Guillaume has been many things. Now, the time has come to say goodbye to his final position: principal.
Growing up, Guillaume didn’t really know he’d end up working in education for the entirety of his professional career. It never crossed his mind in high school.
He was usually busy being captain of the football team or leading pep rallies at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, where he grew up with his older brother and twin sister after moving from Colorado at a young age.
Somewhere along playing football for Taylor University and studying business, Guillaume felt lost. He didn’t know where he was headed to, but he knew he had to shift away from the corporate world. It was at a residential summer camp in Pennsylvania where he found himself.
“I was a camp counselor for high school aged kids, and loved my time [there],” Guillaume said. “That was what made me say, ‘maybe education is the route for me.’”
And so, Guillaume took on his teaching journey. He taught math, his forte, at Niles North High School for two years. In 1994, Guillaume started teaching math at Libertyville High School. Then, he transitioned into teaching math at VHHS as soon as it opened in 1999, splitting time between both schools as a VHHS teacher and LHS department chair of math until 2001, when he started working full time at VHHS.
“I think my whole thing was to try and make the class environment enjoyable,” Guillaume said. “Building positive relationships with kids and finding opportunities to laugh and have fun amidst what can be a dry and difficult subject [became] my focus.”
Shannon Garcia, a VHHS counselor, had Guillaume as a math teacher her junior year at LHS.
“He was funny. He would tell a lot of jokes. Sometimes, [he’d] walk into the classroom like he was Superman, where he stretched out his arms but you couldn’t see his legs… he was like, ‘does it look like I’m flying?’” Garcia said. “For a subject that I wasn’t the best at and didn’t have a super strong interest in, he made the class enjoyable.”
As a young adult heading into a teaching profession, Garcia drew inspiration from the relationships she fostered with teachers in high school. She learned early on how meaningful those positive influences can be in shaping your worldview. Garcia taught high school English for 10 years — Guillaume was one of her inspirations.
“The way [Guillaume] fostered community in his classroom made me think about how I [could] work with people who are different from me,” Garcia said. “As a teacher, [I strived to] create [an] environment where it felt like my class was a community, a safe space [where] we could celebrate each other’s successes… I learned that from his class.”
Guillaume’s principalship
As the time went by, Guillaume’s professional landscape was constantly changing. By 2003, he had a masters
in Educational Leadership from Northern Illinois University and took on the job of assistant principal for student services. By 2006, he was the assistant principal for teaching and learning.
It was around 2014 when the opportunity to become a principal presented itself. When Dr. Ellen Cwick stepped down as principal, Dr. Prentiss Lea, the superintendent at the time, urged Guillaume to consider taking on the position.
Motivated by Lea, Guillaume got a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Concordia University, then applied for the job.
After successfully landing the role, Guillaume and his wife, Angie Guillaume, moved to Vernon Hills from Arlington Heights with their four children in order for the family to be closer to his job. After all, it was a big commitment that required a lot of time away from home.
“The beauty of [moving closer to my job] was I could be at school, supporting the students here, and oftentimes my own children, or my children’s friends and classmates. It was both a personal and professional win,” Guillaume said.
Experience after experience, Guillaume embraced what it meant to be a leader. To him, relationships with other people greatly influenced his leadership style. Hardships also taught him important lessons.
“In order to grow, you have to be stretched, and this job definitely stretched me, sometimes uncomfortably,” Guillaume said. “Through those [days] you come to know yourself better and understand the things that give you life and the things that cause anxiety… you figure out how to best tackle, manage and get past those.”
Guillaume recognizes it takes a lot as a leader to show up for a community through adverse times. Even though it’s what he “signed up for,” Guillaume feels a strong sense of duty to VHHS, which goes beyond just having a role as a principal.
“When you live in a community and you are loyal to [them], and you love the people and the families in the community, [there’s] a greater sense of ownership,” Guillaume said.
During Covid-19 and the shift to online schooling, Guillaume served as an important piece in mobilizing the school community into adapting to the challenges that came with quarantine.
“Nobody knew what was going on… [Guillaume] guided [the school community] magnificently through the unknown, which makes him a great leader,” Nora McKiernan, administrative assistant to the principal, said.
Relationships over the years
Guillaume has cultivated a lot of relationships over the years, especially with the students who are school
board representatives, whom he works closely with on D128-related matters, such as meeting monthly to discuss school events and writing reports on board meetings.
“[Guillaume] knows everyone by name and makes [students] feel special,” Griffin Nichols (12), a student board representative, said. “[Guillaume] has been such a great role model [to me] that, whenever I have a chance to [be a leader], I think [on] how I can best exhibit the leadership skills I’ve learned from him.”
Dani Gomez-Anez (12), another student board representative, admires Guillaume’s commitment to the students, citing how she often sees Guillaume interacting with people and showing up to events.
“The fact [Guillaume] is always at the foyer when school ends, talking with students, [and how] he is at every signing when [students] commit for a sport…[goes to show how] he has made a positive impact in the school by making every student and staff member feel seen and heard,” Gomez-Anez said.
Guillaume is proud of the relationships he has fostered with his coworkers, the school staff. He values the connections he has been able to make, and so do the people who work with him.
“You get up and you come to work knowing that you’ve got somebody there that’s doing the right thing and who is guiding you,” McKiernan said. “[Guillaume] just made it easier to come to work, you know, knowing that things were under control and taken care of.”
The transition into a new principal
Guillaume has been working with Dr. Andrew Young, vice principal and soon-to-be principal for a decade. Guillaume has aided Young all the way from Young’s hiring, which Guillaume was responsible for, to Young’s preparations to become principal.
“[Guillaume] was instrumental in my ability to get started on the right foot [at VHHS]. He always keeps me grounded and level headed…he’s often that rational voice for me,” Young said.
Young recognizes the effort Guillaume has put into the school community and the impact that has.
“There’s never been a principal at Vernon Hills like him, and there probably never will be again. We are so grateful for everything he’s given, his sacrifices, his time,” Young said. “I can think of no better person that has led this organization than him, and just how proud he’s been to do it. He really is honored to have done it, and we’re better for it.”
The future can bring a lot of hope, expectations and uncertainties. But there’s one thing Guillaume is certain of: Young is going to be an excellent principal.
“He is an amazing man and will be an awesome principal at every level. He’s super smart and he understands people,” Guillaume said.
Moving on from VHHS
“People have asked me ‘are you happy or sad?’ [but] it’s so much more than that,” Guillaume said. “[Retiring] forces you to think about everything that has happened to this point. There’s times I can feel myself start to choke up about it. But there’s also times where I feel super happy about it.”
When Guillaume reflects back to his time at Vernon Hills, he doesn’t like the idea of having or leaving a legacy. Knowing his leadership, friendship and mentorship will be carried forward by those who he has impacted is enough.
“I want to be known as someone who cared, as someone who poured himself into this place and this community as much as I was able to, Guillaume said. “Someone that had integrity and didn’t always make the right decisions or the right moves, but was led by principles and tried to do what was right.”
Guillaume wants to be recognized by his humanity. Not as “the principal,” but as a person that has worked through different experiences alongside everyone else. He champions the greatness of the community around him — a community that has shaped his time at VHHS.
“It’s not lost on me that I stumbled into an amazing school, in an amazing community. There’s a lot of people who just don’t have it as good as I did,” Guillaume said.
Now, it is time to move on. Guillaume has bittersweet feelings about his next journey: moving to Charlotte, North Carolina.
“In July, [me and my wife] will leave our home in Vernon Hills for the last time, which will be hard, because we have so many good memories,” Guillaume said.
While saying goodbye might be difficult, Guillaume’s time at District 128 will forever stay with him. He will always be a Cougar (and maybe a Wildcat, too).
“It has been an honor to serve in this capacity as principal, as leader and alongside [the staff],” Guillaume said. “[These] 31 years have been a treat.”