Shout Out: Candice Cunningham, special rec superintendent | Northbrook Star

By Alexandra Kukulka – October 19, 2017
Pioneer Press

Candice Cunningham, 37, has worked for the Northern Suburban Special Recreation Association for 15 years. She was hired by the agency, which serves multiple towns including Glenview and Northbrook, in 2002 as a recreation specialist, and she was promoted to superintendent in 2009. She married her husband, David, in 2010 and the couple has a three-year-old daughter, Avery. Cunningham lives in Arlington Heights and grew up in Iowa.

Q: What do you do as superintendent of NSSRA?
A: My role is to oversee our inclusion services, which is where we provide training resources to our 13 partner agencies to support kids who have disabilities within their park district programs.

Q: What have you enjoyed most about working for NSSRA?
A: What I love most about this agency is the team of people that I work with day in and day out. They are so dedicated and passionate about providing really good quality services. There’s also the whole reason why we are here, which is our participants and our families, and seeing them grow over the last 15 years.

Q: What is the most rewarding and challenging part of your job?
A: The most rewarding part would be being in the presence of our team and seeing them in action with all of our participants. The most challenging piece is being a little bit limited with some of the resources that we have. For example, our ability to get part-time staff kind of limits what we are able to offer to our families.

Q: Who do you look up to?
A: My aunt Sharon. She has been a special education educator all her life. She has a heart of gold. She is really a true sense of a person who is here to serve students. She always has their best interests at the forefront. Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago.

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