Welcome to Reflections from 22C

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Looking Out Over the Treetops

I am excited to share what we do in our classroom which overlooks the treetops. Here is a little information about me. I am one of those lucky people who loved school and now find myself teaching in the same school that I attended as a child. 

       

TRULY A LOCAL After completing grade school, I went to River Forest Junior High for 7th and 8th grades, before it became Roosevelt Middle School, serving grades 5-8. Then, I went to Oak Park-River Forest High School and completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois in 1981. Go Illini! I happened to meet a really cute guy there and we got married a year after we graduated. My life was pretty predictable for a local girl. I worked in Chicago as a Systems Engineer and then a Marketing Representative for IBM.

First, we lived in Oak Park. Then, we moved to Evanston, so my husband could earn a Master's in Management from Northwestern. After his graduation, the house of my dreams was for sale. The house belonged to my dad's friend, Mr. Campbell. I told Mr. Campbell when I was in high school that if he ever moved, I wanted to buy his house. So, just when we were looking to buy a home, Mr. Campbell called my dad and asked if I still wanted to buy his house. I showed it to my husband. He loved it, and we have lived in the little white house on the corner in my hometown ever since.

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HOBBIES  If I am not at school, or at home working in my garden, I am most likely on a court. My three favorite sports are platform tennis, tennis, and pickle ball. Also, I love to walk. If you are not familiar with platform tennis, then please click here. I love to play it because it is a cross between tennis and racquetball and you can play outside all winter. I am excited to go to paddle camp in Colorado this fall.

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TRAVEL  My husband and I both love to travel. When we had only been only married a few years and we were really broke, he called one day and said, "Japan is on sale." I asked for a translation. He said we only needed half as many airplane miles as normal to go to Japan. We decided to go. Great decision! Two years later, we went to Australia. Since that time, we have traveled to other countries and met our goal of visiting all 50 states. Of course, we had to celebrate and have a 50 states party. I also like to celebrate events and life in general. You will see soon see why...

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IT ALL WORKS OUT On to the best part of our lives! That would be our kids. They are now all in their twenties, and making us proud! Here is a recent picture of all of us. So you may be wondering, how did an IBMer become a teacher with two master's degrees in teaching? Well, the unpredictable part of my life occurred in 2006. My cute husband got a Stage III brain tumor. Friends came to the rescue and he made it to the right hospital at the right time. To make a long story short, he luckily survived! After working as a substitute teacher and loving it for eight years, while my kids were in school, I needed to work full-time. So, I earned a Master's in Teaching from Concordia University Chicago. One of my professors was hired as a principal at the Science & Arts Academy, a school for gifted students, and he hired me. The school paid for teachers to earn a Master's in Gifted Education from Northeastern Illinois University, so I did just that. Then, a position opened up in the school right near my house, and I now I work there, in a classroom that overlooks the treetops.