Jill Redmon, the district coordinator of Media Services for Portage Township Schools (PTS) embarked on a journey from teacher to media specialist. She contributes her professional journey to her unwavering love of education.
Early in Redmon’s life, she discovered her innate desire to become a teacher. A native of Portage and a former student at Willow Creek Middle School, Redmon attributes an inspiring, local educator Ruth Drake as the catalyst for her future career.
“From the time I was little, I always wanted to be a teacher,” said Redmon. “In seventh and eighth grade, however, I had a teacher who was very instrumental in me making my decision to be a teacher. It wasn’t that Ruth Drake was an English teacher; she was simply someone who, during a rough period of life at home, stood out to me. After two years of having her as a teacher, I decided what I was going to do. I was going to be an English teacher like her.”
Redmon took the necessary steps to obtain a formal education to make her dream happen. She took classes at Purdue University in West Lafayette before finishing her bachelor’s degree at Purdue University Northwest (formerly Purdue University Calumet). The latter university also provided Redmon with professional tutoring experience at its writing lab. She would eventually receive her master’s degree from Indiana University Northwest followed by her certification in media science.
Redmon started student teaching in 1993 at her alma mater, Portage High School, before being hired as a full-time English teacher in 1994. After teaching for about 17 years, she made the grand switch to teaching middle school students and serving as the librarian at William Fegely Middle School in Portage. Though Redmon currently resides in Valparaiso, she accredits her love of teaching middle schoolers in Portage to their aptitude to learn.
“I love the community of students and their willingness to try new things,” said Redmon. “I never usually have trouble with these students. They’re always pretty respectful and willing to give anything a shot and go with it.”
Despite her perennial time as a teacher in the classroom setting, Redmon recently made the switch to becoming Portage Township Schools’ full-time media specialist. In her new duties, Redmon requires her to oversee 11 school libraries.
“It’s just a different time of life where I progress through different things,” said Redmon. “I loved what I was doing, both at high school and middle school. I also loved running the middle school library. As my career progressed, however, things have changed.”
As the district coordinator, Redmon has moved away from instructing classes and travels to all of the district schools. She often trains each school library’s clerk on duties like creating engaging activities or helping them make research methods for students. Redmon’s work allows her to continue to foster students’ development by providing them access to digital and physical resources within the library setting.
“I became a teacher because of a teacher,” said Redmon. “In the same way, I wanted to be able to reach kids I work with within the media center. I want to provide them with books that are relatable and accommodating to them and help make libraries a welcoming place. Doing so helps them achieve their goals with reading, getting good grades, and things like that.”
In her new role, Redmon is excited about a new partnership developing between PTS and the Porter County Public Library System. The partnership will allow elementary school visits with the libraries beginning this March. The development of this youth program includes student participation with StoryWalks, which is a literacy movement across library systems that aims to create illustrations in the real world to entice kids to read.
“We have a StoryWalk in four of our buildings, just like the public library has in their gardens,” said Redmon. “We’ve submitted four books to them, and they have created StoryWalks for us. It’s been a neat partnership and a fun thing for students to have.”
Outside of her work, Redmon loves spending time with her family, especially her husband and eight grandchildren. For an upcoming spring break, she and 17 other family members will be traveling by plane to Florida. In her free time, she often runs, works out, or reads. She is also a very active member of Calvary Church in Valparaiso.