Northside College Prep Faculty and Staff 2000-2001

Virginia Apel, is a Spanish and German teacher at Northside Prep. For the past twenty-three years, Virginia has been an educator in Illinois. Most recently she was a German and Spanish teacher at Kenwood Academy in Chicago. She has chaperoned trips to Germany and is currently actively involved in the Sister City Exchange Program between Chicago, Hamburg, and Germany. Virginia received her Bachelor's degree in German, Spanish, and Secondary Education from Illinois State University in 1973.

Jane Potter Baumer, a music and voice teacher and our Fine Arts Department Chairperson, is also a girls' swimming coach at Northside Prep. She received her BA in Music, specifically voice, from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia in 1987. Jane then completed coursework toward a Masters in Musicology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1989, she acquired a MS in Music Education with a Choral Emphasis from the University of Illinois at Champaign. While at U of I she was the Assistant Conductor of the University of Illinois Women's Glee Club. Before arriving at Northside Prep she was an instructor in voice, arts and music education at Mars Hill College in North Carolina since 1991.

Robert Blease, a Spanish teacher, received his M. Ed. From DePaul University, following his BA in Spanish from the University of Illinois. He has worked as a translator for Child & Family Connections, volunteered for Amigos de las Americas, and tutored students at Furbright University in Quito, Ecuador.

Sue Boeck, our new Learning Disabilities Teacher/Special education Case Manager received her BA in secondary education/English from the UIC, her master's degree in Learning Disabilities from Northeastern Illinois University, and has completed her MA in Educational Administration. She most recently worked in the Chicago Public School's Office of Specialized Services where she led workshops, mentored new special education teachers, oversaw the implementation of special education vocational grants at the secondary level and worked as a consultant to schools who were awarded grants to facilitate inclusionary practices. Prior to that, Sue taught special education at Mather and Kelvyn Park High Schools.

LaGreta Jones Chillers, teaches social studies at Northside Prep. She is a recent graduate of Northwestern University, receiving a B.A. in Education, with concentrations in History and Sociology and a minor I African-American Studies. In addition, LaGreta student taught at Niles West Township High School in Skokie and Haven Middle School in Evanston.

Tim Devine, teaches social studies. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political Science from Cornell College in Iowa in 1992 and obtained a Master of Arts in Education for Secondary Social Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota in 1998. Tim's recent educational work includes teaching social studies and history at Bowen High School in Chicago. Besides teaching, Tim is also involved in numerous extracurricular activities. At Bowen he supervised a group of student interns involved in the Mikva Challenge-an after school program in which students worked on and analyzed professional political campaigns. Tim was also selected to a team of Social Studies Teachers who implemented a Mock-United Nations Program at Bowen. As the Head Coach for the Varsity Men's Swim Team, he saw his team advance to the regional championship meet. He will be coaching boys' golf and wrestling during the upcoming school year.

Gregory DeFrancesco, our new Chemistry teacher, is completing his MA in teaching from National Louis-University. He received a MS in Earth and Environmental Sciences from UIC and a BA in History from Loyola University. Gregory did his student teaching at Whitney Young, was a Teaching Assistant and Lecturer at UIC in geology, was an instructor of Physical Sciences at Truman College and worked as a facilitator at the Instituto de Progreso Latino.

Tamara Dobrov, a science teacher, joined Northside Prep from Wildwood School in Chicago. Following receipt of her B.A. degree in Marine Biology in 1983 from Sonoma State University in California, Tamara was involved in numerous research opportunities throughout the country. She participated as a field scientist in numerous studies including an ecological and behavioral analysis of Humpback whales in Hawaii. Tamara performed her student teaching duties at Huron High School before receiving a master's of Education from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is also a PH.D. candidate in Neurophysiology from Cornell University in New York.

Haiyan Fu, Ed.D., our World Language Chair and Chinese teacher, received her Doctorate degree in foreign language and second language from the School of Education, University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Master's degree in Education from Smith College. She also has a BA in English language from Beijing Language Institute. She has been teaching Chinese professionally at institutions of higher learning in the U.S., Canada and China (including Smith College, McGill and Indiana Universities as University of Michigan) for more than seventeen years. She is currently a lecturer at Loyola University Chicago and also teaches at New Trier High School in Winnetka. Her research interests include educational ethnography, assessment of language proficiency, as well as cross-cultural interaction and cross-cultural understanding.

Sandra Michelle Gaspich, a new Social Science teacher, received her BA in History and is currently working toward her MA, both at Loyola University. She comes to Northside from Immaculate Heart of Mary in Westchester where she taught religion and worked in the admissions office as a recruiter. Prior to that, Sandra worked at Longwood Academy were she was the Social Studies department chairperson and taught AP US and European History.

Diane Gazda, a Computer Science Teacher, joined Northside Prep from Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center in Chicago. In addition to teaching computer science courses there, Diane served as Chairperson for the Computer Science Department. She spent the bulk of her professional career as the Computer Science Chair at Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago. Diane received a B.S. in Science and Math from Mundelein College in 1964, a M.S. in Computer Science in for Teachers in 1974 from Illinois Institute of Technology, and went on to receive a Doctor of Education degree in Vocational, Technical and Occupational Education from Nova University in Florida in 1979.

Antoinette M. Geraghty, a biology and chemistry teacher, received her biology certification from DePaul following her BS in zoology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. While at U of W, Antoinette participated in a laboratory course and international symposium on cell and molecular biology at the University of Witwatersrand South Africa, and studied in Tanzania, East Africa. She worked as a Medical Assistant at North Suburban Pediatrics and a Patient Care Technician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

John "Jack" Giles, the Social Studies chair, has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Vermont and an M.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies from Northeastern Illinois University. Jack worked for most of his professional career at Rotary International, ascending to the position of Director of Public Relations. In 1993, he began his teaching career at Carl Schurz High School. While at Schurz, he became a teacher consultant for the National Geographic Society and the Illinois Geographic Alliance. He was honored as a distinguished teacher nationally by the National Council for Geographic Education. Jack leads the National Honor Society.

Dawn Guest, a math teacher, received her BA degree in Mathematics Education from Chicago Sate University in 1998. At Chicago Sate she also studied African-American Studies and Studio Art. For the 1998-1999 school year Dawn was a mathematics teacher at Arlington High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition to teaching at Arlington, she participated in the Dial-A-Teacher tutoring program, and the Challenge Grant program for using technology in classrooms. At Northside Prep, she coaches the cheerleading and pom-pon squads.

John Hahm, an English teacher, joined Northside from Lane Technical High School and Edison Regional Gifted Center. He is and experienced teacher both at regular and advanced placement levels. John is a past co-editor and advisor of The Light Bulb, the literary magazine of the Edison Center, and coach of the Academic Decathlon teams. He led Northside's all-freshman Academic Decathlon team to a berth in the state championships. Born and raised in Honolulu, in 1969 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Hawaii. In 1976 obtained a Master of Arts in English from Northwestern University in Evanston.

Cedric Hampton, the Fine Arts Coordinator, received a Bachelor of Music (piano performance) and a Bachelor of Music Education from Michigan State University in 1980. He then obtained a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University in 1983. Cedric is a recipient of both the Dr. Ruth Allen Fouche Heritage of Black Music Award in 1994 from the Chicago Park District and the Chamber of Commerce-Pilsen Area in 1995. He is a past Director of Education and Assistant Conductor for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. Most recently he has been the Coordinator of Community Programs at One to One Learning Foundation, a Community Outreach Specialist and Project Consultant at the Ravinia Festival Association and an Adjunct Professor of music at the University of Illinois Chicago and National-Louis University.

Elizabeth Horn, a new addition to our Math department. She received her BA in Mathematics from the University of Iowa, her M.Ed from the UIC in Evaluation Research and Ph. D. in Mathematics Education from UIC. Until moving to Northside, Elizabeth has been the Chicago Interactive Math Program's Co-director in Chicago where she provided staff development and acted as coordinator for twenty-seven Chicago Public Schools. She also was the Program Coordinator for the UIC's College Preparatory Mathematics Program and was department chair at Whitney Young, were she taught AP Calculus.

Neil Koreman, teaches Physics. In 1987, Neil received BS in Biology from John Carroll University in Ohio. He then acquired an MS in Journalism from Northwestern University in 1989 and Teacher Certification from Rosary College in 1994. Neil comes to Northside Prep from Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center in Chicago, where he was a science teacher. While at Von Steuben he sponsored the school design team for engineering competition. In the past he has also been a guest lecturer and workshop instructor at the Department of Art Education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Dr. James "Jay" Lalley, the principal, received his B.A. in Philosophy from St. Mary's Seminary College, M.A. in English Literature from DePaul University, and his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy from Loyola University. He began his educational career as an English teacher and, later, department chair at Brother Rice High School before taking the department chair position at Loyola Academy where he was later named Assistant Headmaster. Dr. Lalley then became the principal at St. Ignatius College Prep until he became Chicago Public Schools' Director of College Bridge. He is the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for Humanities, the William T. O'Donell Distinguished Teacher Award and the Educator of the Year at Loyola Academy.

Angela Lekkas, joined the Counseling Department from Roosevelt High School in Chicago. Prior to joining Northside Prep, Angela had spent her entire professional career at Roosevelt High, first as an English teacher and then as a counselor. At Roosevelt she assisted students, parents and teachers with academic, personal and vocational growth including college counseling, career counseling and programming from honors to special education case management. She received a BA in English Education from the University of Illinois, Chicago in 1972 and an MA in Guidance and Counseling from Northeastern Illinois University in 1978.

Michael Lill, the band director, received his BA degree in secondary education and instrumental music from Northeastern Illinois University in 1985. He then began working at Good Counsel High School as a music instructor, teaching courses in both instrumental and vocal music. In 1992 he was nominated for the Golden Apple Award. Michael also coordinates private lessons for students and initiates student involvement in Concert band Competitions and Solo and Ensemble Competitions. Besides teaching music, he is also the trumpeter and drummer for _Six of One_, a professional six piece group.

Leon Lim, a mathematics teacher, received a BA degree in 1992 and an MS in mathematics for secondary education in 1995 from Northeastern Illinois University. He then began working as a mathematics teacher at Roosevelt High School in Chicago where he implemented computer-assisted-instruction in the curriculum. In addition, Leon has been working as a mathematics instructor for night courses at Harry Truman College. He is also a member of the Cambodian Association of Illinois, part of the United Way of Chicago, where he conducts seminars regarding social, cultural and educational issues in the community. As a reflection of his work with the Cambodian Association, he received two Community Awards for outstanding leadership and dedication in 1993 and 1995.

Kelly Lloyd, and English teacher, received a BA from the University of Illinois at Champaign in 1997. Currently, she is a candidate to receive a Masters degree from DePaul University. After serving as a Girl Scout troop leader in 1995, Kelly began her work improving the writing skills of children throughout the Chicago area. Most recently she taught students at Jones Metro High School and tutored students at the Association House of Chicago. In addition to teaching at Northside Prep, she coaches both the girls' cross country and track teams.

Jorge Lucero, will join our art department this fall after receiving his BA from the School of the Art Institute. Jorge has taught painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, performance and Art History. He has had two recent exhibitions: Fiesta Dos Mil at the Union Civic League of Chicago Arts Foundation and the Nipon Stell Annual Juried Exhibition. He has won a number of awards for his artwork.

James Lynn, the new math department chair, has a B.A. in Civil Engineering and a B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame. He received his M. Ed in secondary Education from DePaul. He worked for three years as a Civil Engineer for the Harza Engineering Company before becoming a math teacher, and later, a department chair at Forman High School. Jim is the recipient of the school's Teacher of the Year award. As a part of Columbia College Upward Bound Program, he teaches Saturday workshop classes in math, computers, and English. Jim acts as a trainer of teachers in the National Science Foundation's Interactive Mathematics Program and has provided professional support to teachers through classroom visits and one-on-one conferences.

Alan Mather, the new assistant principal, has a B.A. in English/Secondary Education from the University of Evansville (Indiana) and an M.A. in Educational Administration from Northeastern Illinois University. He has taught English and coached cross-country and track at Farragut Career Academy, Westinghouse High School and Carl Schurz High School. He participated in LAUNCH (Leadership Academy and Urban Network for Chicago) at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, a new program that recruits and trains candidates for jobs as principals in the Chicago system. Prior to his arrival at Northside, he was the Apprentice Principal at Southside College Prep.

Barry McRaith, the English Department chair, has a B.S. in general business from Miami University, and an M.A. in English from Northwestern University, and an M.Ed. in curriculum, instruction, and evaluation from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was an English teacher and the Dean of Student Affairs at Holy Trinity High School and has been a creative writing and English teacher at Von Steuben High School since 1992. He was a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, an adjunct lecturer on English teaching methods at North Park College and creative writing teacher in the Young Chicago Authors Project. While at Von Steuben, he authored and received $10,000 award from the Illinois State Board of education to develop, along with a team of three other Von Steuben teachers, an integrated curriculum for math, science, history, and English. He is a Golden Apple Award nominee and the recipient of the Pegasus players Theater "Teacher of the Year" award in 1998.

Marina Medina, the director of counseling services, has a B.A. in the teaching of History from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an M.A. in education with a specialization in bilingual education from Governor's State University. She attended Northeastern Illinois University for certification in guidance and counseling. Martina was a counselor at Wright College. She has been at Schurz High School since 1981, first as a bilingual Spanish History teacher, then as a counselor. At Schurz, Marina is the counselor in charge of the College and Career Resource Center, coordinator of the College Excel and the Chicago Police and Fire Academy Program, and coordinator of college and career related testing, scholarships, workshops, field trips, fairs, and presentations. She is active in professional organizations; she is the member ship secretary of the Secondary School Counselors' Council and recording secretary for the Chicago Guidance and Personnel Association.

Joanne Minyo, an art teacher, received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1983. Then, in 1986, she received a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, on the way to acquiring a Professional Certificate in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997. Joanne has participated in various exhibitions throughout her professional career. After completing a ten-year stint as an Artist-Teacher for the Marwen Foundation, she taught art at Wendell Phillips Academy High School where she developed and led lessons in drawing, painting and sculpture with a focus on language Arts integration and multi-culturalism.

Tamara Montgomery, a recent graduate of Loyola University Chicago, teaches French at Northside Prep. She will also a Cheerleading coach. While at Loyola, where she was a member of the French Honor Society, she majored in French with a minor in Communications. Her student teaching was completed at Lane Technical High School in Chicago where taught and tutored French students.

Christine Olsen, the new Academy Resource Teacher, is our former Science Chairperson and a veteran teacher and department chair at Mather High School. Chris has a B.A. in biology and science education from Northeastern Illinois University and has completed her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership at Chicago State. She has worked on the Argonne Teachers' Vann project, which makes available sophisticated science equipment for high school teachers. AT Mather High School, she moderates the Chinese Club and works on the Recognition Awards Assembly.

Peter O'Neil, a math teacher, received his BS in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University in 1988. He then obtained a Masters of Education from DePaul University in Chicago in 1993. Peter has had the unique opportunity of teaching math to students who live outside of the United States. As part of his work with the U.S. Peace Corps from 1988 to 1990, he taught Algebra, Advanced Algebra, Physics and Biology at the Government Secondary School in Bangem, Cameroon. Following his time in Africa, Peter taught math courses to students at colegio Internacional de Carabobo in Valencia, Venezuela. Recently he taught various courses, including Spanish-bilingual math and the Interactive Mathematics Program at Edwin G. Foreman High School in Chicago.

Rosanna Ortiz-Schill will be filling in for Joanne Minyo in the art department while Joanne is on maternity leave. She recently completed her MA in teaching from Colombia College where she also received her BA in Fine Arts. Previously Rosanna taught at Holy Trinity High School where she developed and taught classes in Ceramics, Sculpture and advanced Painting & Drawing. She is the co-founder of the Blue Ladder Gallery and has been part of a number of Art Exhibits.

Chris Pagani, a physical education teacher, received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from Illinois State University in 1997. Before arriving at Northside, he was a physical education instructor and freshman basketball and baseball coach at St. Benedict High School in Chicago. Chris was an All-Conference baseball player in Truman Junior College in 1993. In addition to teaching, will coach boys' basketball and baseball at Northside Prep.

Beverly Palmer, a new social science teacher comes to us from Lane Technical High School where she taught social science and developed and piloted a multi-cultural Gifted Humanities' course. She graduated from Roosevelt University with a BA in Social Science and a M.Ed.from UIC in Administration/Curriculum Development. Beverly was involved in a number of activities to build her own professional development and enrich her students' opportunities, including Illinois State hearings on _We the People...the Citizen and the Constitution_, a Fullbright Award, and seminars offered at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago.

Jeung-hee Park, our new Japanese teacher, received her MA in TESOL and Bilingual Education from the University of Findlay, Ohio. Her undergraduate work in Linguistics was completed at Tsukuba University in Ibaragi-Ken, Japan and Kyung-name University in Korea. Previously, Jeung-hee taught Japanese in the Masan Japanese Language school in Korea.

Christopher Pellikan, is the teacher for our Special Education/Sever & Profound population. He received his BS in psychology from the University of Illinois in Psychology and his M.Ed. from UIC. He is following some of his students from Nettlehorst Elementary school, where he has spent the last five years, to Northside. Christopher, in addition to his teaching duties, is founder and director of Arrow and Feather Learning Disabilities Clinic in Chicago. Previously, he was an instructor at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he taught courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Twice he received the Silver Circle Award, a university award for excellence in teaching in voting by undergraduates. He was also the recipient of the Dean's Merit Award, given by the Dean of the College of Education for Outstanding Teaching and Service.

Julie Peterson, a physics teacher, received her M.Ed. from Northwestern University and her BS in Physics from Purdue University. Prior to entering the world of education, Juile worked as an Environmental Assessor where she worked on coordination between property owners and government agencies, and tested areas for groundwater contamination, asbestos, radon and other environmental issues. She also evaluated groundwater toxicity at Purdue and wrote software in Purdue's Physics Educations Laboratory Development program for use by over 3500 students using SONAR ranging equipment and optical motion detectors.

Barry Rodgers, our Science Chairperson, received his BS in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1990. In March of last year he received a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from National Louis University. Beginning in 1992, Barry taught Biology and Chemistry at the honors, regular and English as a second language level at Mather High School in Chicago. In addition to teaching at Northside Prep, he will also be the boys' swimming coach.

Carolyn Rownd, a social studies teacher, received her BA from St. Mary's College in Indiana in 1991 where she majored in History and Political Science. In 1995 she received her Masters of Education from Marymount University in Virginia. Before coming to Northside, she taught history, global studies, psychology and sociology, for varying levels, at Notre Dame Academy, a college preparatory school in Virginia. Besides teaching at Northside Prep, she also coaches the girls' volleyball teams.

Therese Schiltz, a librarian at Northside Prep, received a BA in English and Sociology from St. Norbert College in Wisconsin in 1995. Then, in 1997 she became a graduate student at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois as part of the Library and Information Science program. Prior to joining Northside Prep she was a Library Media Specialist at Good Counsel High School in Chicago.

Heinz Schwinge, the programmer at Northside Prep, comes to us after spending over twenty years at Westinghouse Career Academy. Heinz received his BA in history from Rice University in Houston, Texas in 1965 and an MA in history from Northwestern University in Evanston in 1969. He schedules teachers and students and supervises the development of student subject elections and their entry into the Chicago Public Schools Student Information System.

Randy Snow, an English teacher, comes to us from Von Steuben where he was the teaching librarian/media specialist. He received his M.Ed. in Instructional Leadership from UIC and his BA in English Literature from Knox College, where he was a recipient of the school's Outstanding Senior Award, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship, and the Catherine Paine Middlebush Scholarship for English Literature. Randy also taught at UIC in the Early Outreach Program where he worked on interdisciplinary programs and taught theme based expository writing classes.

Heather Staib, the technology specialist, has completed her Bachelor's degree in computer science from Governor's State University in University Park. She completed an internship at Whitney Young HS and is now a trainer of interns in the same program she completed. Heather has experience in troubleshooting and installing software, networks and hardware.

Patrick Tassoni, a new member to our counseling department received his BA in Studio Art from Lawrence University and his MA in Human Service and Counseling as well as his M.Ed. in Teaching and Learning from DePaul University. Most recently, Patrick split his time between his work as a biology teacher and counselor at the Chicago International Charter School. In addition to school counseling, he worked as a Cancer Patient Counselor at St. Joseph Hospital, a Research Assistant at the Douglas Park Medical Center and volunteered at the Chicago Osteopathic Hospital.

Janet Torres, a Spanish teacher, has worked at both Foreman High School and Northeastern Illinois University in 1998 where she majored in both Spanish and secondary education. In conjunction with Ms. Muriel, she led a group of our students to Spain this past summer. She also coaches the Girls' bowling team.

Dan Turner, our new Physical Education teacher, received his BS in Physical Education from Chicago State University in 1999. He is coming to us from Washington Junior High School in Joliet where he taught Social Studies and Health. Dan will continue the work he began last year coaching our basketball team. While at Chicago State, Dan received the Excellence in Leadership Award from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education; he also received the Alice Smith Memorial Award for Excellence in Field Experience/Future Research and Practice Award.

Dave Vanoni is our Athletic Director and Physical Education teacher. He also coaches the Boys' basketball team. Dave received a BA in Secondary Education from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago in 1996. He brought the "Adventure/Physical Education" program the he developed at Ames Middle School to Northside Prep. Adventure Ed. focuses on teambuilding and combines physical education with other disciplines to create an innovative learning environment.

Don Yanek, computer science teacher, received a BS from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and a certificate in Java Programming and Web Development from Loyola University. While at NIU he majored in Applied Mathematics with emphases in calculus, numerical analysis and physics. Since 1992 he has been at Carl Schurz High School as a science math and computer science teacher. In 1994 he was presented with the Amoco Leadership Award and received a $20,000 grant from the Amoco Foundation to develop and initiate a curriculum at Schurz High School to increase participation by female and minority students in upper level mathematics. Enrollment by these students has doubled since initiating the program at Schurz.