Jillian Johnson
2016
Jillian Johnson has been named the Johnson Creek Education Foundation’s 2016 Distinguished Alumnus. The award will be presented at the Johnson Creek High School graduation ceremony on Sunday, June 5 at 2:00 P.M. Jillian is the daughter of Ken & Cyndy Johnson of Johnson Creek. Mr. Johnson was a respected and well-loved teacher in Johnson Creek leading up to his retirement in 2013. Jillian shared, “One of the luckiest parts of my life so far has been being a student in my father’s classroom. He loved what he did and in doing so inspired others, including myself. I knew after being in his classroom that I wanted to teach.” Jillian graduated in 2004 as Valedictorian and Class President of her class. She went on to attend the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Throughout her college years in Madison, Jillian spent much of her free time volunteering both locally and internationally. Jillian coins her love for travel and volunteering abroad to her first summer out of college in Kenya where she volunteered with H.E.A.R.T., (Health Education Africa Resource Team), focusing on HIV education outreach and orphan prevention through supporting HIV positive mothers. She spent her summers and breaks volunteering locally with the food pantry, tutoring through ESL programs, mentoring as a camp counselor, and on the road to places like Guatemala, Mexico, Romania, as well as in country Habitat for Humanity work and Hurricane Katrina Relief .
She graduated from UW- Madison in 2009 with a B.S. in Family and Consumer Education and certificates in both African Studies and Integrated Liberal Studies. Jillian’s passion for reading and her community led her to join AmeriCorps Schools of Hope and Literacy Project as a Volunteer Coordinator where she connected local community members to elementary students who needed extra one on one support with their reading and writing. In 2010, Jillian was placed as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guyana, South America where she served as an Inclusive Educator. She worked in a multitude of roles during her time in country; serving as a Deaf Educator, Teacher Trainer for Special Education, Newspaper Columnist, Parent Liaison, Curriculum Designer as well as served in country support to fellow volunteers.
Jillian returned to Wisconsin in 2012 and has been teaching in the Madison Metropolitan School District since her return. She has earned her Master’s in Education from National Louis University in Chicago, IL and was just awarded a scholarship to attend the National Restaurant Associations Summer Institute this June in Florida to complete the Mastery Level ProStart Culinary Educator Training.
Between traveling, teaching, volunteering and cooking, Jillian finds joy in spending time with her family and friends. Her favorite compliment is that she looks like her mother and she is grateful for her siblings Jessica Gayle, Jennifer Cecil and Joshua Johnson. She especially loves being an auntie and weekly Saturday morning breakfasts with her grandma Eleanor Johnson.