Podcast

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Mark McMahon is a lifetime resident of Lake Forest. To say he comes from a creative family would be a massive understatement. His father Franklin was a globally recognized artist and his mother a writer. Five of his eight siblings pursued art professionally in various forms. His wife Carolyn and children Elise and Drew are also professional artists and two of his grandchildren are active in the arts.

Mark attended Lake Forest High School where he is recognized on the Alumni Wall of Fame. He went on to Adams State College in Colorado and Loyola University where he studied art and art history.

You can find examples of Mark’s murals at the Gorton Center and the Lake Forest High School Library. Mark has been exhibiting his work annually at the Lake Forest Art Fair since the age of 10. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Deerpath Art League who organizes the Fair. You can view and purchase Mark’s work, as well as that of other family members, at mcmahongallery.com.

Dr. Matthew Montgomery began his career at the Waterloo School District in Atwater, Ohio, first as a science teacher, and later, as principal of Waterloo Middle School and Waterloo High School.  In July 2013 he became Superintendent of the Waterloo School District. Two years later Dr. Montgomery became Superintendent of the Revere School District in Bath, Ohio and in 2021, came to Lake Forest as the new Superintendent for Districts 67 and 115.

Dr. Jennifer Hermes is the COO of the shared district office responsible for budgeting and finance, Board relations, employee and labor relations as well as oversight of District 67 and 115 facilities, transportation, food services, technology, and early childhood programs. She came to the Lake Forest schools 17 years ago after holding similar positions in Naperville School District 203 from 1997 to 2006.  Dr. Hermes is an adjunct faculty member at Concordia University in Chicago.

Mr. John Noble grew up in Lake Forest, graduating from Lake Forest High School in 1986. A distinguished, high school, college and professional tennis player, John also coached the LFHS men’s and women’s tennis teams in the 90’s. John is continuing his long association with Lake Forest High School, serving two terms on the District 115 School Board where he is the current Board President.

Sheila Henretta is a Lake Forest resident with a track record of public service, including in the Illinois Governor’s office and as the state’s chief banking regulator; as an elected Local School Council member in Chicago; and on the board and as an officer of the Better Government Association.  More recently, she served as a member of the Lake Forest Caucus and was the Caucus’ President in 2019-2020.  She is currently the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of an investment management and benefits firm and sits on the board of directors of its institutional investments arm.  Sheila graduated with a business degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and returned to her hometown of Cleveland for her law degree. She has specialized in corporate transactions and corporate governance for over 25 years.