Bio page

Guten Tag, Gruezi, Servus!

I am thrilled to be the Supervisor for World Languages and ELL for Bremen High School District 228 starting this year, and to be a part of the administrative team at Oak Forest High School!

Before coming to Oak Forest, I studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago for German, then at the University of St. Francis for Educational Leadership, and then at National Louis for my ELL endorsement. I love school! (really, I hope to go back to get my PHD in German at DePaul) Before my college career began I was in the Army and a Paratrooper at Ft. Bragg, NC - hoo-rah, Airborne! That's where I met my husband, Don, and we have been married for 20 years, and we have a beautiful little girl and a sassy siberian husky! For the last 3 years I was the Department/Division Chairperson for Creative Arts at Plainfield South High School and was the German teacher there since it opened in 2001. Despite teaching German, I love the whole concept of learning languages beyond just a first language! I studied French in high school and have taken a conversational Spanish class, so I definitely practice what I preach. :) My daughter is learning German and I hope she will take an additional language when she gets a bit older! I have traveled with students to Germany, Austria and Switzerland 6 times in the last decade (and was in Germany when the World Cup was there in 2006 and was in Munich when Germany won the world cup this year) and wholeheartedly believe that learning a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th!) language helps enrich our cultural awareness, but also supports brain development at all levels. In fact, a recent study has shown that even adults learning an additional language can benefit as it has shown to stave off Alzheimer's Disease. Follow the link below for more information.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111013121701.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141112120208.htm

I definitely support and will promote the learning of languages for all students, and appreciate that I get to do what I do, and that I get to work with high school students to learn a language other than their first language. It is both an honor and a privilege. I hope that I can help more students in this district be confident and competent language learners, and I am grateful for the opportunity to promote language fluency. Alles klar? Wunderbar!

"People make bad choices if they're mad,

Or scared, or stressed.

Throw a little love their way. (Throw a little love their way.)

And you'll bring out their best. True love brings out the best!

Everyone's a bit of a fixer-upper,

That's what it's all about!"

Fixer Upper - Trolls from Frozen