Busy is the word to describe Mrs. Criner. Presently, she is a guidance counselor here at Lincolnwood. Mrs. Criner never runs out of anything to do; she is always on the go. She helps students get the things they need done such as applying for scholarships, getting enough credits to graduate high school, and helping students with problems.

Mrs. Criner graduated in 1973 from St. Joseph Ogden High School which was located 15 miles east of Urbana. At SJ-O was a school of 400 students. When she was in high school, sports were just starting for girls. She was in cross country and track and field.  A memory Mrs. Criner will remember in high school was when her friend would chase her every day around the school trying to squeeze the pudding out of her Suzie Q desert cake.

She went to college at University of Illinois for two years then transferred to Eastern Illinois where she graduated in 1978. During that time, she majored in physical education, drivers ed, and health. Before becoming a guidance counselor, she was a teacher at Mulberry Grove Jr/Sr High School where she taught P.E, drivers ed, and health. She taught for 24 years then decided she wanted to go into guidance after teaching. She was also a softball and volleyball coach at Mulberry Grove High School and Greenville Jr. High. She coached at Greenville Jr. High for 7 years and all together coached for 21 years.

She started working here in the 2004-2005 school year. She loves helping students succeed in many things both in and out of school. The craziest thing she has ever seen at Lincolnwood was the staff had a boxing match; she said, “It was funny seeing the teachers out of character.”

Since Mrs. Criner has been here, she has seen many changes to the school. State testing is different and there is a shortage of state money. Another change she seen happen this year is the PBIS program and how it made a change in the students as well for the teachers. She has been a guidance counselor for 10 years.

She really likes the Knight Buck idea, it makes kids behave and do more positive behavior around the school, towards teachers and students. She has also noticed there are rarely any fights this year.

This school year is Mrs. Criner’s last year here at LHS so she’ll be “graduating” with the class of 2012. Students hope she does many wonderful things in the future and has good memories of Lincolnwood. Mrs. Criner always had words of wisdom for students and staff, had a great influence on others and will be greatly missed.