The end of a school year might mean many things – final exam season, sports wrapping up, and seniors preparing to leave VHHS. To some, it marks the beginning of something new. To others, it’s the end of a chapter.

This year, we say goodbye to several Educational Support Personnel who have contributed to the district in multiple ways and created deep bonds with the school community, including some who have been here since VHHS opened 25 years ago.

Educational support personnel are the people working behind the scenes to make sure students can get the help they need – they might be teaching assistants, security officers, or people working in the LST and the main office.

Michelle Tran

Sandwiched between the attendance office and LST blue, Michelle Tran works in the silver LST to assess

student matters. She works to support the deans, counselors and social workers.

That might look like finding students in the building that the deans, counselors, or social workers need to talk to, running student attendance reports, or running other reports through Powerschool per deans’ requests.

“Every day is different, which is what I love… every day is a huge variety, and we keep very busy all day,” Tran said.

Tran began her career working at a freight forwarding company. Then, she worked for ten years at Abbott Laboratories.

Before coming to VHHS, where she first worked part-time as a study hall monitor and on freshman transition before working in the LST, she stayed at home for 15 years to raise her four children. Now, she celebrates one
decade of being a cougar.

A meaningful part of her time at VHHS, and that has changed how she views high school students, is the fact that two of her daughters have attended VHHS at the same time Tran worked at the school.

“This has made me a better parent… I’ve learned a lot about different aspects of students’ lives that I wasn’t aware of before,” Tran said. “I think, more than anything, it has made me really appreciate what we have here at Vernon Hills, because it’s a really special place.”

Tran’s youngest daughter, Livy, will be graduating this year. Her husband, Jayson Tran, who’s a volunteer coach for Girls’ Track and Field, also decided to retire this year. As such, the end of the ‘24-‘25 academic year marks the end of a big chapter for the Tran family.

The future holds many possibilities for Tran. She’ll travel to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado and California, where much of her and her husband’s families live.

Tran said that, whenever her youngest daughter decides to go to college, that’s where they’ll move to – her house in Vernon Hills feels too big now. However, she will still look to buy a smaller house in Vernon Hills, so that her daughters can always come back home.

To Tran, VHHS is a special place because of her coworkers, the students and all the connections she has been able to make throughout the years.

“[What makes VHHS unique is] the caring and compassion of our staff. We want kids to suc-
ceed, we want to make sure they succeed and we’ll do anything reasonably within our power to
make that happen,” Tran said. “We really care.”

Tami Fisher

Tucked away in a room inside the main office hallway, Tamara Fisher, bookkeeper, works to manage much of the money that flows through VHHS.

That might look like checking to make sure the money for student’s field trips went through, making money deposits on behalf of clubs and overseeing purchases on the web store.

“I love to work with numbers, so that’s why I wanted this job…I like math,” Fisher said.

Fisher has been working at VHHS since 2001. She first started out as an administrative assistant for the science, social studies and English departments, and then moved into the data processing department. For the last nine years, she has been a bookkeeper. Fisher also started working at LHS three years ago, alternating between the two schools throughout the week.

Fisher was able to rotate through very different jobs across departments, as well as pick up the skills necessary for each job while never having gone to college.

“I think that shows you’re never too old to learn,” Fisher said. “I came into this job not knowing how to do this stuff. I think that’s really motivating, being able to know that you can learn either way and just start doing [it].”

A big difference from when she started working at D128 and now is that a lot has changed, technology wise.

“I’m happy that I was able to learn all this new technology, because it’s definitely different than when I was younger.” Fisher said. “I had a job like this back when I was 18, and when we first got computers, it was this big deal, because we didn’t have to do everything by hand.”

Fisher isn’t the only one in her family that has ties to D128. Her oldest daughter graduated from LHS in 2003, and her youngest daughter, Katy, graduated from VHHS in 2006. This meant Fisher was able to “go to school” at the same time as Katy.

“Everybody knew I was her mom,” Fisher said. “It was kind of fun having my daughter go here, mostly being able to accompany her through her journey.”

Al Frank

Sitting by the security desk, overseeing every person who comes in and out of the building, Al Frank works to ensure the campus is safe.

That might look like overseeing senior lunch release, fetching students who are called down to the LST and monitoring the school cameras – he was part of a big team of security guards.

Frank retired by the end of last semester, but he’s an old timer – Frank worked at VHHS for 25 years, ever since its inauguration.

“[I saw] all the people come in and go, the expansion of the West gym, the dance studio and the [expansion of] the East side with the classrooms and the STEM lab,” Frank said.

Frank’s connection to VHHS is deep. He has participated in many traditions over the years and has created many connections.

“I went to every graduation. I’ve been to every Prom, to all the Homecoming dances, Turn-abouts,” Frank said.

The most remarkable thing to him over the years was to see kids succeed and move on to the next stage of their lives.

“[It’s] seeing some kids come in here as freshmen, being giggly and kind of silly, [then] watching them change through the years and mature. Being part of that, guiding them [and] helping them along the way – it’s been great,” Frank said.

Frank has also received many nicknames over time, like Frank the Tank and Fettuccine Al Frank-o. He also once had to kiss a pig during an assembly back in the day.

“Kids could put money in the jar, and the one that got the most money had to kiss the pig. Well, one year, I did kiss a pig,” Frank said.

Frank graduated with a degree in finance and worked for 13 years in real estate investing. Then, he went into police work, where he became a sergeant at Johnsburg Police Department in Johnsburg, Ill. In 1999, Frank briefly worked at the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Then, he came to VHHS.

Frank has worked concurrently as a security guard and bodies of water patrol. He’s been employed by the Lake County Sheriff’s Department for 38 years, where he patrols Lake Michigan and Chain O’Lakes.

“I’m an avid boater. I teach Safe Boating classes for the Department of Natural Resources – I’m one of the state [volunteer] instructors,” Frank said. “I grew up on the water, and boating has always been a part of my life.”

To Frank, coming to work everyday didn’t feel like work.

“The closeness [between] the staff and students felt like a family, you know? You felt like you were really succeeding in doing something helpful, guiding the students and working with the staff through the years… it wasn’t just a job,” Frank said.

Frank misses the daily interactions with staff and students. But this isn’t a goodbye forever. He’s planning to
get a substitute teacher certification to come back when needed.

“It’s been a great run. It really has been a great part of my life,” Frank said.

Officer Dan Mead

Officer Dan Mead doesn’t stay in one place. You might see him in the foyer, in a hallway, or even on a football field. He’s a Student Resource Officer (SRO).

Mead has been working in law enforcement for more than 30 years. The most remarkable part of being in this field, to him, is making an impact on people.

“[I see] people that I’ve helped in the community 20 years ago, now [having] kids,” Mead said. “They’re like, ‘Officer Mead, remember this? Remember you came to my house? Remember you played football with me? All those things that you said to me, I took to heart, changed my life, and now I’m successful.’”

Originally, Mead wanted to become a social worker and help homeless people. He also wanted to enlist in the military, but his dad, who served in the Vietnam war, advised him against it.

Mead started working at VHHS in fall of 2020. Before that, he would work night shifts controlling traffic and responding to police calls. SROs are only supposed to work on a four year contract. However, Mead is working his fifth year as an SRO.

The Vernon Hills Police Department is responsible for managing his role as an SRO. The school chooses who they want to hire, and the Police Department approves of the decision. Pat Kreis, Police Chief of Vernon Hills, allowed Mead to extend his contract by a year, which has never been done before.

Mead’s transition to working at VHHS was at a very delicate time, when there was a lot of controversy around law enforcement.

“I came in here at such a hard time during social injustice, during COVID, and I really needed to focus on changing the perception of my profession, humanize my profession…and show that I honestly do care and I love being here,” Mead said.

What motivates Mead to keep creating connections with students amid stereotypes of his profession is his
integrity.

“I have good morals…I want to make a difference,” Mead said. “ To me, integrity means doing the same thing if someone’s looking or not looking – do good, make a difference.”

Which is what Mead has tried to make – a difference in student’s lives.

“I try to make myself available to all the students. I started the Law Enforcement Club, which is another way that I connect with the students,” Mead said. “Taking the time [to be] vulnerable has really helped me. I’m a social person, so I can talk and cry to anybody.”

Mead also works to make sure students who are struggling, whether it be with academics, attendance, or their personal lives, feel valued.

“I try to talk to those kids on a daily basis, I try to give them incentives. I’ll tell kids ‘Hey…if you can get an A on this quiz, I’m going to buy your dessert in the lunchroom, okay?…You want a MOD pizza? I’ll go pick up a MOD pizza, and then we’ll eat together here at school.’” Mead said. “I try to get those kids to keep coming back [to school] to show [them they’re] loved.”

Mead’s care for students beyond a law enforcement perspective comes from his belief that his job is not to just enforce the law, but also to be a friend, a mentor, and a coach. For the next SRO to succeed, in his opinion,
they’ll have to work to build those connections.

“You have the opportunity to be out there mentoring, coaching, and teaching – that’s been the most rewarding thing in my career,” Mead said.

Mead is going to miss interacting with the students and staff. He’ll try not to come back to VHHS too often – he wants to allow the next SRO to create their own connections without feeling overshadowed by his presence. However, he will be close by.

“I made a lot of connections in [the] special education [department], so my plan is to stay in D128. I got my substitute teaching certificate, and I am going to work at Transition Pathways… I found a passion I want to stick with, and that’s trying to teach kids,” Mead said.

Working at a school and uncovering a new layer to his profession in law enforcement has completely changed Mead’s perspective on the importance of community. All the connections he has created and all the lives he has touched have left a big impact on him.

“This school — they care so much. They go above and beyond. I’ve seen other schools…they don’t even do all the stuff they do here, which shows how much [VHHS] cares and gives everyone an opportunity to get such a great education,” Mead said. “And the faculty here, who I’ve gotten to know so well, are not only so good at what they do but they really do care. It’s really made me think differently of educators.”