Two teachers from Niles West High School in Skokie were named finalists for a nonprofit organization’s prestigious award for excellence in teaching in Illinois.
The Golden Apple Foundation in mid-February named Dillin Randolph, an English and AP African American studies teacher, and Elizabeth Dribin-Khoshaba, a special education teacher, as two of the 30 finalists for the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. The two also co-teach an English class together.
Niles West, in Niles Township High School District 219, and Maine South High School in Park Ridge, in Maine Township High School District 207, were the only schools to have more than one educator named as a finalist for the award.
The winner of the Golden Apple award will be notified in the spring, according to a news release from the organization. The winner will receive the prize of a free spring sabbatical at Northwestern University, where the winner can take a class in whichever subject they like, and a $5,000 cash prize.
Being recognized for their teaching style is not new to either Randolph or Dribin-Khoshaba. Randolph was a finalist for Teacher of the Year from the Illinois State Board of Education in 2024 and Dribin-Khoshaba won an award for Meritorious Service from the Illinois State Board of Education in 2023.
Interviews with both teachers have been edited for length and clarity.
Dillin Randolph
Q: How long have you been teaching and what have you learned from it?
Randolph: I’ve been teaching a total of eight years, five at Niles West. I was first hired by Niles (Township High School District 219) during the pandemic. My first time being a Niles West teacher wasn’t in the building, I was in my bedroom teaching, so I had to wait a year in a sense to be in the building.
It’s been great. Niles West has become a home for me and I’m just doing my best to make sure that every student I encounter has the feeling of loving being here, having Niles West be like a home for them as somewhere that’s safe emotionally and safe physically and somewhere they can easily learn.
Q: Golden Apple says your teaching style makes you a “kid magnet” who can read the room and adjust your approach based on your students’ energy. What does that mean to you?
Randolph: A lot of time, obviously, school can suck. What I mean by that is that sitting at a desk for hours on end is not fun. Awkward social interaction can not be fun. Getting up early when you were up late doing a bunch of work that some adult told you to do or to read some book that you don’t care… may not be fun.
But learning is always fun. Nobody goes to school and says, “I hope I don’t learn anything today.”
What makes me a kid magnet is that I’m always showing students why learning this is fun and important… because overall learning new things, gaining new skills, understanding the world more is fun.
Q: What is it like co-teaching with Ms. Dribin- Khoshaba?
Randolph: When I first started co-teaching with her, I was watching her work her magic and I was like, “Oh my God, This is the best teacher I have ever seen.”
If you think I’m a kid magnet, then she’s a kid electromagnetic field.
The students love her, and the reason why students love her is that we have very similar philosophies where learning is fun.
Something she (Khoshaba) is really good with is that she understands that there are certain things that students need before they can have fun with learning. She understands that students need that comfortability, they need to feel loved. They need to feel that students are cared for.
Q: What was your reaction to finding out you were a finalist for the Golden Apple award?
Randolph: I was taken aback and confused at first. There are people I have nominated for this award… I nominated Ms. Khoshaba.
So when I got a nomination, I was like… wait. I texted Liz (Khoshaba) and asked if she knew anything about it, and she was like, yeah it was her.
I think it’s a testament to the quiet recognition from afar. We’re so close together when we’re teaching, and we’re like, “Man, you’re such a good teacher.” And we want other people to see that.
Elizabeth Dribin-Khoshaba
Q: How long have you been teaching? What drew you to it?
Dribin-Khoshaba: I’ve been at Niles West for eight years, before then I taught at Niles Central. Before that, I taught for a year in Evanston and two years in Niles.
I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. I come from a family of teachers. My father was a teacher, my mom was a teacher. I became a special education teacher because I have an older sister who had Down syndrome, which is kind of what drew me into the special education world. I have an older sister who is an instructional coach in Skokie.
I really love where I grew up, and so being able to come back to the suburbs in my area was really important to me.
Q: Golden Apple said students in your classroom take on leadership roles. How so?
Dribin-Khoshaba: I took a class called democratic classroom leadership, which really talked about empowering students to be active participants in their learning.
I always start the school year by introducing my students to this concept by saying, “when you go out in the world and you get a job, the employers are not going to be asking questions about what you got on your last essay or how well you comprehended a particular novel.
“They’re going to be asking, how are you as a teammate? How do you work in groups? How do you self advocate?”
Kids enjoy being in my classroom so much more and they see that I see all of their great qualities, even if they struggle with school.
Q: What was your initial reaction to being named a nominee and finalist for the Golden Apple award?
Dribin-Khoshaba: It was a really big deal because when I graduated high school, I won the Golden Apple scholarship.
I always had a passion for education, me and my family, we call it our family business because we all work in schools, but the Golden Apple Foundation had a huge impact on my life and my outlook on being a teacher.
