Arthur James Bonds

Pioneer Hall of Fame Award

Class of 1960

Arthur James Bonds earned a Bachelor of Science in Education Degree from Illinois State University as a French major.  Arthur spent two of his summers doing graduate work in French.  One summer was at the University of Hawaii in Hilo and the other was at Université Catholique de l’Ouest, Angers, France.  He then earned his Master of Education degree from the National College of Education in Evanston, Illinois.

Arthur was a French Teacher at both Kankakee Eastridge HS and Wheaton North HS in Kankakee and Wheaton, respectively.  He considers teaching his life calling.  His goal was “to prepare people not just to earn a living but live a life, for it is truly the mind that makes the body rich.”  While at Wheaton North, he was far from content with teaching from the standard materials.  He:

1     Authored “Language Study in Our High Schools”, a booklet for parents

2     Co-authored “Avril Á Paris”, “French Enrollment Up”, and “Á Québec Au Québec” (three approximately 100 page books to help French teachers)

3     Authored a third level grammar packet (independent study packet), Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Co. New York

Roles that Arthur has served include:

4     Founder and past sponsor of “L’Académie Française” (French Honor Society) at WNHS

5     Co-founder and past sponsor of “Le Cercle Française” (French Club) at WNHS

6     Chairman of Foreign Languages, ESL, Bilingual Department at WNHS

7     Member, WNHS Multi-Cultural Committee

8     Chairman, District #200 Foreign Language Topic Committee (7 years)

9     Member, District #200 High School Curriculum Council

10  Member, Illinois Foreign Language Teachers Association

11  Member, Illinois Council of Teachers of French

12  Member, American Association of Teachers of French

13  Elected Member, Executive Council of AATF for Chicago and Northern Illinois

14  Supervisor of Student Teachers in Chicago-area from ISU, WIU, Wheaton College, and North Central College

Additionally, Arthur has been extremely involved in Christian Education and Administration within the Baptist Church.  He has held many positions within the church locally and has been asked to make presentations on the state, national and international basis.  He has traveled to at least 15 countries.

Congratulations to Arthur James Bonds on his 2006 induction into the University High School Pioneer Hall of Fame.