Cristine Purdy is a 2025-2026 Teach Plus Early Childhood Education Policy Fellow and teaches preschool at the West Prairie South Elementary School in Colchester, Illinois. She works with children in a blended class that consists of students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, those with behavior disorders and other developmental delays, and children who are on track developmentally. She has taught preschool through 3rd grade. Cristine serves as a mentor to first- and second-year teachers, and was named Most Valuable Cyclone of the Quarter at West Prairie South Elementary (2023-2024). She served eight years as superintendent and four years as assistant superintendent of the Christian Education Committee, and is currently finishing another two-year term as superintendent. Cristine earned her BS in education, with an emphasis on early childhood education, from Western Illinois University.
