One hundred fifty people stood with their breath held, staring at a door. The silence was deafening.

Suddenly, however, that silence was broken with cheers and shouts from a collection of students, state representatives, insurance agents and school administrators.

Seth Brady and Randy Smith, social studies teachers, walked timidly into a mob of press with  Principal Bill Wiesbrook. Almost immediately, Brady was handed a giant check for $100,000 from Farmers Insurance.

“Thank you for making this possible,” was all Brady said at first, still processing that he had won a grant for his Global Scholars Program.

Each year, Farmers insurance distributes  grants to teachers with academic improvement programs through a program called Thank America’s Teachers Dream Big Teacher Challenge. Brady’s proposal was chosen as one of 15 finalists for six $100,00 grants. For the entire month of October, visitors to Farmers’ website could vote for the proposals they felt deserved funding.  While many proposals focused on programs for teachers’ individual classrooms, however, Brady’s proposal was more global.

[Brady’s plan] is the most unusual project we have ever seen,” said Mary Wlodarski, a Farmers Insurance agency owner in Naperville. “Most [plans are] school specific, but [Brady’s] program affects all of Illinois.”

Apart from Farmers Insurance agents, Illinois State Representative Grant Wehrli and Illinois State Senator Michael Connelly were present to congratulate Brady.

“What Brady has done is why this school in particular is full of leaders,” Wehlri said.

Addressing the gathered crowd following the check presentation, Connelly voiced his agreement.

“[This initiative] will give students a leg up… when applying to college,” Connelly said.

Recovering from his initial shock, Brady also addressed the audience.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to expand global education,” Brady said. “It’s a testament to our school and state community.”

Brady’s efforts to provide a global scholar designation to students in Illinois expand beyond his grant proposal. On Aug. 12, the Illinois government passed a law allowing students to receive a certificate for global accomplishments on their diplomas. Brady and Smith led a group of teachers in securing interest in the legislation. And now, with the $100,000, Brady hopes to fund this program.

“The certificate is really designed to be implemented at a district level,” Brady said. “In fact, the bill itself wasn’t a mandate and relied heavily on opportunities that are already available in schools. And so to be able to augment that certificate with, first of all, really high quality, engaging materials, increases the fidelity of the certificate because now everyone will be on the same page. The other thing is I think some of these big, statewide projects that are in the grant really build the critical mass for global education that is necessary to get a whole state behind this.”

District administration shared in Brady’s congratulations, starting with Wiesbrook.

“This is a good example for students,” Wiesbrook said. “If you have a goal, stick with it and keep at it. It might not always end with a $100,000 grant, but sometimes it does.”

Jackie Thornton, assistant principal for curriculum and instruction, was excited as well.

“One of the things we’re so proud of is shared leadership,” Thornton, said. “Students and global awareness has been something Brady has spearheaded… to take it from District to statewide is pretty cool.”

Superintendent Dan Bridges also shared in the celebration.

“I am so proud of the leadership in Naperville and District 203,” said Superintendent Dan Bridges. “This will benefit students in the state of Illinois and for that, I’m appreciative.”

Aside from administration, colleagues of Brady, who have worked with him throughout his development of the project, expressed their excitement.

Todd Holmberg, social studies teacher, has worked closely with Brady for many years teaching  Central’s Comparative Religions class.

“[Brady] deserves it,” Holmberg said. “He has worked incredibly hard to forward the idea of Global Scholars.”

Another colleague, Michael Bochenski, shares Brady’s passion for global education because he teaches the school’s International Relations class.

“I am enormously proud of the diligent hard persistent work these guys have done in bringing to fruition this idea of a global perspective, which I agree with, fully support, and I’m really glad they did this,” Bochenski said. “And they did it. Make no mistake, these two guys were the ones who persisted who made this a reality and it will benefit kids going forward for many years to come and I can’t be more proud. I think they’ve earned this.”

By Brady’s side throughout the project  was Smith. Though it was Brady’s name on the check, he was quick to mention Smith’s investment in the program, which he described as equal to his own.  

“[Brady] and I love the classroom,” Smith said. “The opportunity to reach classrooms across Illinois makes us [excited].”

Brady also took time to thank Wehrli and Connolly for their involvement in solidifying his initiative with state legislation.  

“To have it passed in the last year and be funded this way, I couldn’t think of a better way [for this plan to take shape],” Brady said.

Brady and Smith admit that their excitement also comes with nervousness.

“Having been project director on other grants, you realize that days like this are the fun part and some of the peaks you experience through this,” Brady said. “But there’s a lot of hard, daily groundwork and planning and thought that goes into this. It’s a little daunting, but also exciting.”

Drew Kanne contributed to this piece. Photos by Jacek Kulak.