At Grayslake North, there are so many standout teachers that do more than teach and impact students’ lives. Angel Clark, executive function interventionist in AIM, shares how she makes a difference in her class.

Clark’s main job at the school is to help students who are struggling. Her background in social work helps her connect with students.

“I work with students through a variety of ways. We talk about attendance. We talk about goal setting, any type of behavior, things that we need to discuss, making sure that students are paying attention in class to avoid getting into trouble. My background is in social work, so I put on the social work hat to help students in a variety of ways,” Clark said.

While asked about how she thinks she impacts students, she goes on to say what she believes she really does and mentions students that she feels she has impacted.

“I think students have everything that they need inside themselves. And what I do is just kind of help them bring that to the forefront. To say that because of me this or that, no. I rather believe that the student has it inside of them to graduate and be successful. I just help them kind of water that seed of believing in themselves, kind of getting that together and so that they could achieve their goals and dreams,” Clark said.

As she goes on to share why she got into teaching and being a social worker, she shares her past and how it impacted her to help others.

“I’ve always been a good listener. I’d rather be a listener than a talker, and I think that what really kind of pushed me to go ahead and start school over again was probably one of the shootings that happened at a school. I think it was Parkland. And thinking that maybe if that student had somebody to talk to at school, or maybe someone could have helped guide that student, where it didn’t turn into violence,” Clark said.

“I grew up in the South Side of Chicago. I’m the daughter of immigrants, and my parents were born in Mexico. They met here in the U.S. and got married. I have four brothers and sisters. So we all grew up in a poor kind of neighborhood, not a ton of opportunities. Just kind of our parents knew that education was the way to get out to better ourselves,” Clark said.

Mrs. Clark’s experience and background help students better themselves and make a difference in their lives. She not only helps students with work but with life, and she chose this career path to do so.