Coughlin, who is in her 44th year of teaching in Summit Hill School District 161, was the first full-time band director hired by the district and has spent her entire career sharing music with the students of SHSD161.
“Kim has impacted the lives of thousands of students who have ultimately taken their beginning talents and developed them into life-long passions,” said Summit Hill Junior High Principal Laura Goebel. “She is admirable, kind, impactful, and absolutely dedicated to her career of over 40 years. She is very well-deserving of this honorable recognition. We are so grateful for her continuous contributions to our community, and we are incredibly lucky to have her!”
“Mrs. Coughlin has had a positive influence on generations of student-musicians and their families, and her alumni that have gone on to become educators themselves call her a mentor and friend,” reads the nomination submitted by Hilda Walker Beginning Band Director Ed Fitzgerald and Wildcat/Jazz Band Director Jason Collins.
Fitzgerald knows first-hand of Coughlin’s influence. He took his first trumpet lessons with Coughlin (then known as Miss Luce) as a student at Frankfort Square School.
The nomination continues, “Mrs. Coughlin is a master teacher and consummate professional who is patient, kind, and genuinely cares for each of the students in her charge. She has high expectations of her students, and they strive together for musical excellence with every note they play. She instills a culture of success in the band program by reinforcing the importance of teamwork and of continual musical self-improvement.”
It is the second year in a row that a Summit Hill School District 161 teacher has received an IGSMA award. Summit Hill Junior High Music Teacher Eric Rehm, a former SHSD161 student of Coughlin’s now in his second year of teaching in the district, received IGSMA’s 2023 Barbara Buehlman Young Conductor Award.
“I am blessed to say I am one of the countless students whose life has been changed from having her as a teacher,” said Rehm. “Kim Coughlin is an example to us all of what it means to be a selfless, loving educator, and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of the IGSMA Cloyd Myers Award!”
“For over 40 years, Kim has been a staple in both the Summit Hill Community and the Music Education community,” adds Rehm. “Throughout that time, she has inspired thousands of students through her teachings - students who have gone on to careers as music teachers, performers, composers, or even just lifelong lovers of music. Beyond her influence on her students' love of music, she has left her imprint on all of their hearts and souls.”
“I am humbled and honored to be recognized for what I do, and it’s encouraging to know that it has value and really makes a difference,” said Coughlin, who earned her bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Northern Illinois University, and started the district’s band program as her first job out of college. “You don't do things for awards, but it's really nice to be rewarded for all the hard work that you put in.”
Band is a staple in the Summit Hill and Lincoln-Way communities, and Coughlin puts countless hours into her role. From before and after school rehearsals to evening and weekend performances including concerts and parades, she does it all. Her bands have performed at countless community events throughout the years, including the annual Frankfort Fall Fest parade, performance tours of other district schools, Chicago Wolves games, Lincoln-Way High School fish fries, Summit Hill Band Booster Spaghetti Dinners, and even playing at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield numerous times.
Coughlin also directs Summit Hill's Musical Revue each spring, arranging all the music and preparing the pit band as well as handling everything from casting to choreography. She is also proud of the band’s Veterans Day program which not only features music but also personal anecdotes about band members’ family veterans. In addition, upwards of one hundred alumni come back every year to play their instruments under Mrs. Coughlin’s baton one more time at the band's annual Winter Concert.
Coughlin also finds the time to lead by example, continuing to develop her own musicianship by playing clarinet with the Southwest Community Concert Band and saxophone with a Dixieland-style jazz band called the Dixie Bandits in her spare time.
“Most of my students aren't going to grow up to be musicians, but they may end up playing all their lives,” said Coughlin. “Band helps them learn how to work better as a team, take criticism, and cooperate. I think it's so important. And it gives kids a place where they feel like they belong, and they can gain that confidence that helps them everywhere else.”
Coughlin will be recognized at the 86th annual IGSMA State Meeting on September 22.
The Cloyd Myers Memorial Award is given to a person who has demonstrated educational excellence in IGSMA activities. Requirements include being a director whose students consistently excel in IGSMA events; an adjudicator who consistently produces excellent comments and suggestions for improvement; and an executive board member who consistently fulfills his or her duties and strives for IGSMA organizational improvement.
Cloyd Myers devoted many years of his career to IGSMA. It was during his first year of teaching in Sterling that the association was formed. He was elected president of IGSMA in 1957, and in 1988, he was named President Emeritus and given a plaque honoring his 50 years of dedication to the association.