Bollywood Dancers, Farmers, Producers, and Actors.

These are just some of the many talents, that teachers and staff possess and pursue during after school hours.

Elizabeth Hartley is both an interior designer as well as an alpaca farmer. Hartley has been an interior designer for over 30 years. She still has a few clients she designs for on the weekends. Hartley has only recently gotten alpacas on her farm. She plans to also get bunnies to breed, sell to restaurants and use for fiber.

Both Dr. Anita Thawani and Mercedes Fernandez are known to be amazing dancers. Fernandez is a Peruvian dancer. “I’m thinking about teaching Peruvian Folk Dances here in ETHS. It would be cool to present a multicultural dance group in the Latino Heritage Festival next year,” says Fernandez.

Dr. Thawani, on the other hand, is a Bollywood dancer. At the age of 13 she started to teach classes and go on Carnival Cruise Line to teach people how to dance. Later she got the chance to travel around the world, performing.

“I grew up in Wilmette, IL and there were very few people like me so going into dance class I was surrounded with people and my culture,” says Thawani. “I like learned about my religion through dance.” Now, she teaches dance whenever she get the opportunity, whether it’s Global Dance or for different clubs.

However, it’s not only the teachers that spend their free time developing their talents, security guards too, like James Zoccoli, Ronald Barnes, Keith Woodson, and Jesse Richardson, have amazing talents too. Richardson is a professional bass player. Woodson plays semi-pro football. Barnes is a hip hop producer, and a talented beat boxer. Finally, Zoccoli does voice overs for various commercials. This is in addition to staff from the Student Accounts Office, like Tina Penick, a singer. You may have seen her perform at different school productions, assemblies, and events here at the school.