We get it. Recruiting will get the best and brightest to our region to teach. But another thing that is happening in Herrin — and elsewhere — is our teachers are getting coached, too. We think that is a great thing.

For the 2018-19 academic year, the Herrin school district named eight instructional coaches, recruiting all of them from within its own ranks. The idea is simple: These are teachers who are designated to help coach other teachers, so that those teachers can, in turn, better coach their own students.

If done correctly, it’s one of those rare occurrences in life where it is a win-win situation. Who wouldn’t be for that?

So far, in Herrin, it’s going very well.

Last year, before the coaches were put in place, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) labeled Herrin’s elementary and junior high schools as “underperforming” based on standardized test scores, poor attendance rates and other factors.

Instead of wallowing over the label, Herrin teachers and administrators did the commendable thing: They went to work. “We really just kind of embraced that underperforming category and took a close look at all of the pieces and developed a plan,” said Herrin Elementary School Principal Bobbi Bigler.

The result: Herrin Elementary School received an “exemplary” designation, meaning the school, where two of every three students comes from a low-income family, ranked in the top 10% of schools statewide. Herrin Junior High also grew to “commendable” — the passing label assigned to about 80% of Illinois’ schools.