Steve has been a very generous supporter of the PPS Foundation. Because of his own generosity and his ability to encourage support from others, he made a big impact in the success of the 365 Breakfast. Prairie Home Alliance has also been a generous supporter for many organizations throughout the Peoria community. We are honored to award Steve Jackson as a PPS Foundation Hero of the Month.

Chris is always there to help with Foundation needs. He works with his staff on the huge job of setup for our annual 365 Breakfast, making sure everything looks amazing and goes off without a hitch! He is also instrumentally important in helping us keep Foundation storage, located at Woodruff, organized. He gets boxes down for us on a last-minute call. He truly is a huge help, even when we give them very little notice. He always has a smile on his face and is just delightful to work with. Chris is a hero indeed. Thank you Chris for all you do!

Josh has been instrumental in managing the community partnership between Hy-Vee and the PPS Foundation. He helps on the grocery side with food distribution to many of our little free pantries, coordinates the supports for our holiday basket distributions, works with us on fundraising events, and provides pizza delivery and treats to our building. We for forever grateful for this partnership and all the work Josh does in support of Peoria Public Schools. He truly is a hero.

Ms. Cobb is an outstanding principal. The parents at the school give her high praise and the students love her too. We love working with Ms. Cobb, whether on grants, projects or our endowed funds. She is always positive and kind. Katie Cobb is an unsung hero.

The IB Program is a college preparatory program where junior and senior year students take college level courses and earn college credit by taking exams at the end of the school year. As the IB Program Coordinator since 2021, Tom has emphasized the importance of community involvement and various life skills to help these students succeed in college and beyond. Recently, Tom has spearheaded a project that allowed students to beautify the Richwoods building by painting murals on the walls. Thank you Tom for over 25 years of service in Peoria Public Schools.

We are so grateful to our May PPS Foundation Hero, Lynette Fernandes, for all the support she has given with our career exploration programs. Lynette has been instrumental in aligning career speakers majoring in game design with volunteer opportunities sharing careers with PPS students. She has also volunteered her time by sharing her career with students both in person and virtually on multiple dates. Lynette spearheaded the Making the Grade volunteer supports for Sterling Middle School, a program that aligns community leaders with students in a mentoring role. Thank you Lynette for all you do for the students in Peoria Public Schools.

Lynne works at the Wraparound Center and advocates for many children and families. She supports the PPS Foundation events, giving and being a positive advocate for our work. We absolutely love Lynne, and she has been amazing to work with.

As an administrator and leader, Josh always goes above and beyond making sure all the complex moving parts of getting students to and home from school, and field experiences are implemented. He always steps up to be supportive of the Foundation and our work. Congratulations Josh. We appreciate you!