Students who are lucky enough to cross the threshhold into Dave Exner’s classroom enjoy the unbridled enthusiasm that he brings to art education. Possessing a bachelor’s degree in Art Education from University of Wisconsin--Madison, and Masters degrees from both the University of Wisconsin--Madison and Northern Illinois University, Dave has used his passion for art to teach a myriad of courses, such as Art 1&2, Drawing 1&2, Advanced Drawing, Ceramics 1&2, Computer Art 1&2, Graphic Art 1, 2D Design, 3D Design 1&2, Painting 1&2, and Studio Art. Dave has taught the arts for the past 38 years, 28 of which he has been at WCCHS. Dave teaches art education “to share his love of art, and show people how it can help shape your world, and to help shape, encourage, challenge and support our youth on their journey to discovering who they want to be as adults.” WCCHS appreciates Dave’s passion for education, and Dave enjoys the down to earth people,both students and staff, who “keep it real”. Anyone who has attended a school function has seen the work that Dave has put into publicizing these events with his butcher paper billboards that he painstakingly creates on his own, and with the help of Art Club, which he co-sponsors with fellow art teacher Megan Dulkinys.

Dave’s family includes his “terrific wife, Teresa, daughter magnificent Meggie, son just awesome Jesse and our zany Zachly” his dog. Dave fills his time outside of school with all things Art, social activism, running to stay healthy, traveling when he can, movies, but above all quality family time.

Dave and his family are both active in his own community through his church and volunteering for various non-profit organizations.

Calling West Chicago Community High School home for the past 10 of her 15 years in education, Tara Deleon is a valued member of the English department, teaching such subjects as English 2, English 2 Enriched, Lab, Creative Writing, and Critical Reading. Tara truly enjoys WCCHS due to “the diverse, hard-working, passionate students and the teachers who stop at nothing to give this community of learners incredible opportunities for growth.” Tara became an educator to motivate, inspire and mentor young adults to seek their greatest potential, which she does both within her classroom, and extracurricularly through her sponsorship of Creative Writing Club, Women’s Leadership Quarterly Summit, and Speech Team. Tara attended Joliet Junior College and Northern Illinois University, the latter of which is where she received both her Bachelors and Masters.

When not instructing WCCHS students on the fine points of literature and writing, Tara spends her time with Mike, her husband of 14 years, whom she met in high school study hall. Mike also shares Tara’s passion for education as he is also an educator. Tara’s home is also shared with her pets, a bearded dragon named Dushi and an axolotl named Squishy. She enjoys travel, working out, getting out in nature, bake, going to concerts to rock her night owl tendencies and spending time with her insanely huge extended family. To reach out into her local community, she volunteers at the Naperville Humane Society as a cat socializer and dog walker.

Helen Cortez enjoyed her time as a student at WeGo so much she decided to become a Special Education teacher here, a position she has enjoyed for the past 21 years. With a focus on working with students on their English skills, Helen values the opportunity to “give back to my community and teach the more challenging students.” To better serve her students, Helen has gone on from her undergraduate education at College of DuPage and Robert Morris University to receive a Masters degree from National Louis University, obtain her type 75 endorsement in school administration through Aurora University, as well as complete 45 additional hours of graduate credit. Where Helen currently does not sponsor an extracurricular activity at the school, she was a member of the softball and volleyball teams as a student.

At home, Helen hangs up her teacher hat and wears her mother hat with pride raising her son, Michael. Her dog, Coco, keeps her busy as well. Family is important to Helen, staying close with her six sisters, three brothers, and embracing her role as an aunt to many nieces and nephews, as well as to great nephews and nieces too! Helen enjoys watching her family play sports, gathering with family and friends, crocheting, reading books, baking, gardening and being a member of her faith community at church.

It’s time to meet Brianne Ferreiro, a valued member of the Science department. Brianne has taught AP and Honors Biology for the past eleven years, as well as volunteered her time to found and co-sponsor Club Green, as well as serve on curriculum and professional development committees. Having a passion to help people since childhood, Brianne actually did not start out in education; rather she specialized in physical therapy and worked in a clinic for three years, and was unsatisfied with the quantity vs. quality emphasis in the field. With a biology degree in hand, she was asked to teach an animal behavior class for an hour on olfactory navigation in pigeons. After she finished her lesson, Brianne remembers, “my classmates and the teacher told me I was a natural. He got me into a program where I taught inner-city kids science experiments and it was then that I realized that teaching was the best way to help others because the students I teach can go on to help others by the domino effect.” Starting her career at West Chicago eleven years ago, and calling the halls of WeGo home ever since, Brianne values the diversity of the students in the building and she feels that “ the teachers who stay at the school are there because they care about our students.”

It’s time to profile Paul McLeland, a member of the Physical Education department since 1988! Paul has helped the students of West Chicago and surrounding communities reach peak physical fitness in classes such as Freshman Academy, Sophomore Academy, Lifeguarding and Jr./Sr. Team Sports during his 29 years at West Chicago Community High School. He studied for his undergraduate degree at Greenville College (now Greenville University), and earned his Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Aurora University. He also helps students reach their potential outside of the classroom when he coached girls and boys basketball, as well as boys cross country (he currently coaches cross country at Illinois Math and Science Academy), and Paul currently is the head boys track coach here at WeGo. He entered the education field to make a difference with students like his own teachers did for him, and he finds the diversity and the great people at WeGo two of its most endearing features.

Outside of school, Paul spends time with his wife, Dru, and his daughter, Katie, who is a graduate of WCCHS, and subbed and coached here for several years between 2015-2017. Paul also has two dogs, Zoe and Zack, who keep him on his toes as well. Paul extends his love of running outside the classroom and is proud to have been a pacer for the Chicago Marathon for several years and has also completed Ironman Wisconsin in 2015. Paul is a member of a faith community at Willow Wheaton, a church that currently meets at Wheaton Academy.

Kicking off her teaching career in our Physical Education department is Kelsey Jacob. A recent graduate of Western Illinois University, Kelsey is teaching Jr/Sr PE and Freshman Health by day, and coaching Sophomore Girls Volleyball after 3pm. Kelsey became a teacher because “I love to be active and I love working with kids to help them live a healthy and active lifestyle! I'm living the dream!”

When not keeping students active during the week, Kelsey loves to enjoy the outdoors--anything from backpacking, rock climbing, hiking, rafting, canoeing, and kayaking to horseback riding. Kelsey is new to the West Chicago area and is joined by her golden retriever, Hunter, on some of her adventures.

Introducing Brian Wheeler, a 13 year member of WeGo’s Special Education department, focusing primarily on mathematics instruction. He attended DePaul University for his undergraduate degree and Northern Illinois for his Masters. Brian states that he became an educator “to give back to others like my teachers did for me.” His favorite part of working with the WeGo community centers around our diversity, as well as the commitment that teachers have to both their students to help them achieve, as well as the commitment that teachers have to each other, which spans across departments within the building. Brian takes his talents for working with others outside the classroom and sponsors the yearbook, as well as assists in the football and basketball teams.

When Brian is not at WeGo working with his students, he’s at home with his four legged family, Welsh Terriers Holly and Razzle, who he enjoys spending time with. Brian is obsessed with all things Notre Dame, especially football and basketball. He supports the education association in his home school district.

It’s time to meet Jen Culbertson, a member of our English division! Jen learned the ropes of English instruction at Butler University for her undergraduate degree, and has since refined her A game with two Masters degrees--one in Curriculum and Instruction from National Louis University and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Aurora University. She has helped students wade through Shakespeare and research papers for 15 years, 11 of which have been at West Chicago Community High School, where she has taught all levels of English 1 and 2, as well as dabbled in English 3. She has worked outside the classroom in West Chicago as well through her Literacy Coach position, which helped teachers work with new and innovative strategies within the classroom to improve instruction. Jen is also a coordinator for ROAR and has worked with our Snowball program. Jen realized her calling to the education profession when she was a 3rd grader, where a teacher instilled in her a love of learning because she was so passionate about her students as people and and learning. Jen states that she “can’t imagine a more exciting, fulfilling career that would challenge me to be the best version of myself. That’s was teaching encourages me to be, and I LOVE it!” Having taught in different school districts, Jen feels that the students are what makes WeGo stand out over the others. She feels that “our students are respectful, not only to staff but also to each other. Our kids really care about each other and the amount of students involved in philanthropic, leadership activities at the school are a testament to their commitment to making the world a better place.”

Jen doesn’t just spend time at school, though. Education runs in the Culbertson family as her husband is an instructional coach and health teacher at Maine South High School, and her two children are in their elementary school years--Matthew is a 2nd grader and Kate is a kindergartner. Their cat, Addison Marie, is currently not in school though. Jen is the Room Mom Coordinator for her children’s school, and she also is the head room mom in her son’s class and helper room mom in her daughter’s class. She also attends PTA meetings. With any free time Jen has left, she loves to unwind with yoga, and do “mom things,” such as soccer and baseball, kids’ homework, watching the Cubs, reading, hanging out with friends, going on jogs and walks around the neighborhood, and spending time with my family, along with spending time on Pinterest looking for great ideas for work and family, and inspiration for teaching Sunday school.

Whether helping a student pick their classes for the upcoming school year or to seek help in choosing a career path (a specialty of his), Gavin Engel is there for his students every step of the way! Gavin has been a member of the Student Services department as a guidance counselor for the past 11 years, although he has 18 years of counseling experience under his belt. Gavin is well prepared for the job every day, with an undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University and a Masters in Counseling from Concordia University. He joined the education profession for many of the same reasons that thousands of other dedicated professionals have: to give back and work with the youth in the local community, and the West Chicago community holds a special place in Gavin’s heart due to its diversity, how the teachers look out for each other and the incredible student body. The drive to look out for others is seen in Gavin’s sponsorship of the Interact Club as well.

When not helping students shape their futures, Gavin spends time with his family, which includes his wife and 3 sons (Andrew, 5 and twins Aaron and Evan, 8 months) at family and sporting events, festivals and parks--anything outdoors--but he doesn’t want to forget his 20 pound cat, Quinn, as a member of the family as well! He has a 2nd job as a therapist at a local private practice where he counsels children and adolescents in the DCFS system. He’s involved with the WeGo community through Interact Club, which works with the city of West Chicago, the police department, the park district, feeder district 33, and the Rotary and Lion's Clubs. His wife is involved in his oldest son's PTA so he pitches in and lends a hand there as well. Giving back to their communities is very important to Gavin and his wife, and they both work to instill that in their sons and Gavin works to instill those values into his students too!

For the past eleven years, Krysta Schoenbeck has called the West Chicago Community High School Science department home. Students have benefitted from her own personal education at Illinois State University, National Louis University, and Miami University (a Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction as well as a Masters in Zoology) in the variety of courses that she has taught: Essentials of Biology, Biology, Honors Biology, Chemistry, and Honors Chemistry. What brings Krysta joy at school is helping to instill a love of science into her students and working to find creative ways to help her students learn. She finds West Chicago Community High School a blend of awesome teachers and a variety of caring students. Krysta helps to build that caring culture in our student body through her work as the director of both the Snowball program, as well as ROAR.

While Krysta enjoys working with the students at school, she has three little students at her home as well--her children Olivia 5, Jack 3, and Lucy 1--that she is helping to turn into little scientists with her husband Tom. Family holds a special place in Krysta’s heart as she spends much of her free time with them, as well as with her friends. She works to help her own personal community by volunteering at her daughter’s elementary school.