Miss G is finishing up her first full year at Harper. She graduated from UW Whitewater with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and spent a year at Deakin University in Australia studying Marine Biology. In her free time, Miss G enjoys hanging out with friends and family, practicing yoga, reading a good book out by the lake, taking her kayak out, and traveling to new places. She is thrilled to be working with all the students and staff at Harper and cannot wait for more great memories to be made this year. 

I grew up in Northern California and received my bachelor's degree in speech & hearing sciences from Univ. of California-Santa Barbara (go Gauchos!). I received a master's degree in speech-language pathology from Northwestern Univ but I was only a speech pathologist briefly. I've had a variety of other jobs as well, including EL teacher to adults, retail (clothing) and for the last almost six years I was a kindergarten para at Central. I live in Evanston with my wife, Pam, and greyhound, Nelson. Reading and traveling are among my passions, my favorite destinations being Australia and New Zealand. I'm very excited to be here at Harper and working in the library with Muffy!

 Mrs. Lakhani has been at Harper for 7 years and this is her 5th year as a Kindergarten para! Before working at Harper she worked at Kids Academy for 14 years. She has two children: Zain is a senior at UC Davis and Maya is a freshman at Iowa. She loves to spend time with her family, wake up early, take long walks and travel. She is excited to work with the students of Harper and she is looking forward to another great year.

Ms. Yuhana is excited to begin her second year as a paraprofessional in kindergarten at Harper! Before joining Harper, she spent 10 years working at Tot Learning Center in Skokie. In her free time, Ms. Yuhana enjoys reading, spending time with friends and family, and taking walks with her dog, Leo. She’s looking forward to another fantastic school year with the Harper community!

Mrs. Helen Luff is excited to join Harper for her first year as a Special Education Teaching Assistant. After relocating to the Chicagoland area in 2016 from the U.K. where she earned her bachelors degree in Human Geography and Planning, she has dedicated the last several years to looking after her young family and volunteering with local organisations as a carer and summer camp counsellor to children grades pre-K through 8. She loves being active and creative, cheering on her family of runners, reading, thrifting, sewing and drinking a good cup of tea!

This will be Ms Schroeder's 14th year in education and her first year at Harper.  She earned her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Saint Mary's College and recently completed her Math Specialist Endorsement coursework at the University of Illinois - Chicago.  I love the adventure of learning and look forward to supporting students at Harper.