GRANITE CITY – Granite City Community Unit School District #9 swore in four newly elected Board of Education members at the James J. Greenwald Administration Building on May 3 at a Special Board Meeting in Granite City.
Tallin Curran, Linda Knogl, Eric Stacy and Erica Venne join president Dennis Wilmsmeyer, vice-president Bill McMasters and secretary Zack Nunn on the seven-person board.
Tallin Curran
Curran, a 2001 GCHS alumna, is in his 10th year as Information Technology and Facilities Manager for Six Mile Regional Library District in Granite City. He is a 2006 graduate of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a degree in mass communications. Curran is also a member of the Madison County Historical Society Board of Directors and the Cool Cities Advisory Committee. He spent nine months as a replacement member of the School Board in 2020-21.
Linda Knogl
Knogl, a 1962 GCHS alumna, is a former early childhood and elementary teacher in the Wood River-Hartford and Granite City School Districts, and retired after 29 years. Knogl received both her bachelor’s and master’s degree in early childhood education from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1967 and 1995. She is also president of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) – Alton/Wood River Branch. Knogl is in her second term on the board.
Eric Stacy
Stacy is in 12th year with the Granite City Police Department, and was recently promoted to sergeant. He previously spent six years as a patrolman for the Cahokia Police Department. Stacy is the executive liaison for the Illinois Chapter of Concerns for Police Survivors (ILCOPS). He received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in criminal justice from Lindenwood University in 2012 and his master’s degree from Lindenwood in criminal justice administration in 2014.
Erica Venne
Venne, a 2001 GCHS alumna, is in her seventh year at City Academy in St. Louis. She spent four years as the school’s fourth and fifth grade humanities teacher, and has spent the last three years as an administrator. She served two years as the school’s Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator and this year as the school’s first-ever Upper School Director. Venne also spent six years as a Spanish Teacher at GCHS. She graduated from Illinois College summa cum laude, as the Class of 2005’s valedictorian, with a double-major bachelor’s degree in Spanish and international studies: politics and government and earned a master’s degree in teaching and Spanish from Washington University in St. Louis in 2008. Venne earned an educational administration license from SIUE in 2013.
The next GCSD9 Board of Education Meeting is set for Tuesday, May 11, at 5 p.m. This is an open meeting with a limited number of 15 guests in attendance, and will also be streamed live on GCSD9 Facebook page: facebook.com/GCSD9.net.
For more information about Granite City School District #9, visit www.gcsd9.net.
