“I got my degree in Social Studies; I was certified in a number of topics, six total. My minor was history. I had enough credits to be able to teach AP history. So AP U.S., World, Euro, any other type of history that dealt with kind of just a broad spectrum of topics. 

I got hired here in 2013 originally teaching basic U.S. history. And eventually the opportunity opened up, where we had enough sections that Mr. Bays felt comfortable enough to give me one [AP U.S. section], and then one grew into two sections.

I think that enough sections opened for world history one year that an AP Euro still ran but they needed somebody to cover it. And Mr. Bays said, ‘Do you want this?’ And I had a little bit of a background in European history, but not extensively like United States history, so it was a little tentative, but I felt comfortable enough that, you know, hey, I’ve got a good support system, and we’ll figure it out as we go. It’s kind of turned into a little bit of a passion project for me, just because it’s usually one section, there’s a lot of creativity that can go into it, and there’s just a number of topics. It’s a little bit wider ranging than in U.S. history.

I’ve always approached anything that if you’re unfamiliar with it, you can make it yours. You can get to know the topic. You can find something interesting in it. So, the phrase I use is ‘bloom where you’re planted,’ just make the best of the situation. Like, when I was first hired, I was teaching government and economics, which are both semester classes, and economics was not my strong suit in high school or in college. So I was like, ‘Oh boy, here we go. Let’s strap in. Let’s learn about this.’ What are some ways that I can make it accessible to kids who maybe don’t find these topics as interesting? Here’s my experience, here’s how I can make it relatable to others. That’s the teaching aspect of it that’s really enjoyable. 

I was a three-sport athlete in high school, and athletics, it’s been kind of a constant in our family of sports. So I played football, basketball, baseball. I played division three basketball at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. I knew going into college, I wanted to do something with coaching. Right after graduating college, you know, I wanted to come back. I had connections in the area in terms of coaches. And I had a lot of good role models throughout my high school and college career, in terms of coaches. Like, this is somebody I can go to during the day, or this is somebody who I can ask for advice. So that role extends a lot more than just, you know, X’s and O’s and plays and diagrams and things like that.

When my son was born in 2019, there was an episode where about six months in, he contracted some type of respiratory illness, and so he spent 10 days in the hospital, and like during that time, you know, again and communicating, it goes both ways, like communicating with family. And that’s always something that I’ve enjoyed about Palatine is like, we keep things in perspective. Like, yeah, we want to win, and winning is nice, and we are extremely competitive, but at the same time, we keep things in perspective. And so our head basketball coach Coach Millstone was like, ‘You don’t need to be at practice. Go be with your family.’ And so that was something I really appreciated. 

We just find a way to continue the process, to be like, ‘All right, let’s look at the growth. Let’s look at how we’re learning.’ And that’s why, I think you know, in terms of, not only the security of teaching, but also the process of it, the intent, the goal of teaching [is] much more enjoyable, this is what I do, and I’m happy with it.”