Lake County Gazette

Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 (WPS) has launched an initiative called Bookmarks to promote literacy among students and encourage a love of reading throughout the school community. The program invites members of the WPS community to share how their favorite books have influenced them, either by submitting written stories or recording videos.

The first submission featured is THE WATER IS WIDE by Pat Conroy, recommended by Kayla Cupp from Tennyson Knolls Preparatory School. The memoir recounts Conroy’s experience teaching in a small island school off South Carolina and highlights themes of educational equity and compassion.

Cupp shared her thoughts on the book:

"This book has stayed with me for years. I read it when I first started my journey to become a teacher. What resonated with me was his passion for equity, his creativity in the classroom, and his unwavering belief that every child deserves a chance to learn."

She added:

"Conroy’s journey is both inspiring and heartbreaking—but above all, it’s a reminder of the power of one person to make a difference through education and compassion. It’s a book that reminds me why literacy, and what we do each day in all areas of WPS, matter."

THE WATER IS WIDE was adapted into the film CONRACK starring Jon Voight.

Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 serves Lake County and includes schools such as Andrew Cooke Magnet Elementary School, Carman-Buckner Elementary School, Daniel Webster Middle School, Waukegan High School, among others (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The district has a diverse student body composed of approximately 3.2 percent White, 13.2 percent Black, 79.5 percent Hispanic, and 1.3 percent Asian students according to data from the Illinois State Board of Education (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).

There are 1,014 teachers in the district earning an average salary of $63,524 before pension contributions; 71.1 percent are women and 28.9 percent are men. No teachers had more than ten absences in a school year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In 2020, the district spent $23,429 per student for a total expenditure of $359,219,407 (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).