Tammie Black- Spanish Teacher

Have you taught anywhere else before here? I taught for 15 years at Metea Valley and Neuqua Valley in Naperville.

What college did you go to? I went to the University of Washington, Seattle.

How has teaching impacted your life? It is really fulfilling when you see a student catch that light or that excitement in understanding that language isn’t just words, it isn’t just conjugating verbs, it’s about people and music and history and food and there’s so much that goes into it.

Message to VH students? Live abroad or study abroad, because the benefits are amazing and your worldview expands.

Haley Nichol- Orchestra and Band Teacher

Have you taught anywhere else before here? This is my first job!

What college did you go to? I graduated from Indiana in May.

Who are your role models? My private lesson teachers, high school band director, professor in college, and my parents.

Message to VH students? Even if something doesn’t seem attainable or it’s not the path that everyone else goes on, if you love it enough, you’ll find a way to make it work and it always pays off in the end.

Stephen Downey- School Counselor

Have you taught anywhere else before here? I was a counselor at Zion-Benton High School for 5 years, at Deerfield High School for internship, an aid in a special ed classroom at Zion-Benton, and substitute teacher for Libertyville and Stevenson.

What college did you go to? I went to Taylor University

What is the coolest thing about being a counselor? The coolest thing is knowing what’s going on with students in all areas of their lives, not just academically, as well as having the ability
to impact and influence the overall student in many aspects.

Fun facts? I was part of the first VH graduating class and I played golf, basketball, soccer, and track in high school.

 
Lynne Benson- CTE Department Supervisor

Have you taught anywhere else before here? I worked at Lake Park High School in Roselle for almost 10 years teaching Family and Consumer Sciences.

What college did you go to? I got my Bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

What does the CTE Department Supervisor job consist of? The CTE department includes Career and Technical Education, Department with Family and Consumer Sciences, Business, Applied Technology, and the Library. I teach 2 classes a day here at Vernon Hills and they are both personal finance classes. Then the rest of my day I work with the teachers in our big department and help them with what they need.

Message to VH students? Make the most of high school because it is a great opportunity to learn, to grow as a person, and to make lifelong friendships. So take the time to have some fun, but work hard while you’re here.

Mary Clark- Science Teacher

Have you taught anywhere else before here? I worked 5 years at Solorio High School in Gage Park, Chicago, and I also worked as a lab tech at Children’s Memorial Hospital for 2 years.

What college did you go to? U of I and Grad School at Northwestern.

What interests do you have outside of work? I like lacrosse, gardening, baking, and biking.

How has being a teacher impacted your life? Teaching always helps you get along with a variety of people. You have to deal with people on a daily basis so you learn to appreciate things that you might not have appreciated or might not have even had the chance to experience before you were a teacher.

Dulce Fajardo- ELL Aide

Have you taught anywhere else before here? I worked 2 years at a Juvenile Detention center as an intake officer and before that, I was a TA at Round Lake
Elementary School.

What college did you go to? After taking a year off after high school, I went to Westwood College for a degree in Criminal Justice and am currently at CLC, hoping to transfer to SIU for a teaching degree.

As an ELL Aide, what does your job consist of? My job consists of  helping and supporting students that are coming from other countries or need improvement in English. I take students to their classes, help them with assignments, and help in understanding the language better.

What is your favorite part of the job? My favorite part of the job has to be those little moments where I see growth, whether it be reading a sentence or analyzing something that a student had a hard time doing yesterday but they could do today, especially when I was right next to them while that happened.