Q. How long have you been teaching here at ETHS? Can you provide some background on how you became a teacher?
A. This is my 33rd year here, 37 in total. I taught at two other schools before that. And how did I become a teacher? It’s kind of a funny story. I always kind of, being the oldest of the children, I was always sort of a teacher. But when I went to college, I took a course where I had to help high school students on their science fair projects. And I was a biology major. And I rode my bike out there every day, or a couple times a week from college, and just fell in love with helping these teenagers with their science fair projects. And I knew that’s how I wanted to be a teacher.
Q. What are you going to miss while you are retired?
A. Anything you could want is here. This high school has everything. Anything you want to do to grow, they’ll do it for you. And just the community and what they stand for, I wanted to be here. So I drove it every day more, well, definitely for my students, but because it’s where I belonged. This is my niche. I wouldn’t have stayed this long if I didn’t like it, right? Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna miss anything? Everything. It’s so bittersweet. Yeah. Like you’re excited to go on to your new life or whatever life’s gonna bring you, but it’s sad. I mean I, I have so many things, so, so much of my mind and created so many things. And yeah, I hope that I touched people, but I’m gonna miss it. But you know, there are just a lot of things that are a big part of my life. Over half my life I was here. That’s a big part.
Q. What’s one lesson you’ve learned from your students?
A. Oh my gosh, every day they teach you something. I think generally, kindness. That people give teenagers a bad rap. You know, they know a lot of things. I’m not scared for our future because of what they know. And the acceptance of all people. I learned that from my students. I learned about cultures. Oh my gosh, family dynamics. They taught me about the world. Yeah, absolutely. I came in here young and naive. And I think the kids taught me a lot of things, yeah.
Q. Do you plan to stay connected with the community?
A. I commuted 100 miles a day for over 27 years. My children grew up here. They went to the daycare center. So, I will always have Evanston as a part of who I am. I may not be here as often because of the drive, but this is my family, and they will always be my family. Whether it’s my colleagues, my students, administration. So, I will be back, I’m sure.
Q. What are your plans for retirement?
A. I have two ideas right now. The first idea is that I’m going to try to be a supervising teacher in a college education program. Because my master’s was in curriculum and instruction. And I’ve always wanted to use it. And I feel I could pay it forward to more kids by helping future science teachers learn how to do labs and run a classroom, manage behavior management, and all of that. And I’m going to be a grandma. I have two grandchildren, and I’m going to hang with them a lot. And go camping. I always love to camp.
