This year, there are many new teachers, many of whom have a history of teaching before either at North or in several different schools. From music to athletics to science, there are many new members of the Knights family.

By being able to add to the North community, new teachers can bring to the schools many new opportunities, from ways of learning to clubs and programs that the new teachers can provide.

One of the many new teachers is a music teacher, Alexander Moberg.

“I am one of the music teachers here at Grayslake North. I teach choir and guitar and music production and theater, and I also manage the black box upstairs,” Moberg said.

  But his journey at GNHS started 13 years ago.

“I would say that it started 13 years ago. I was a student-teacher in this building when I was in college. And so I was in this room in 2010 when Mr. Nielsen was the director here, and so I taught in the spring with him, and then after that, I went into my first teaching job, but I always knew that I wanted to eventually teach back at a high school. And so I spent six years teaching elementary and six years teaching middle school, three of which were actually at Palumbi, which feeds into here. And then I heard from Mr. Nielsen that he was retiring, and they needed somebody to come fill his spot here. And I thought it was just a great fit, just to come back to kind of where my teaching career started and just kind of come back here and teach,” Moberg said.

Moberg wasn’t the only one with a fun adventure before settling in at North.

“When I left high school and graduated high school, I first went to Eastern Illinois University, and I was a chemistry major there. I thought about teaching, but then I did an internship at Argonne National Lab, and I got into being a part of the research. So I didn’t go into teaching right away. I got my bachelor’s in chemistry and then decided because the division I worked in at Argonne Lab was the chemical technology division. So most people were chemical engineers there. So then I left Eastern and went to the University of California, Berkeley, and studied chemical engineering for my master’s in chemical engineering. Then when I left there, I went with my fiancee, my husband Jim White; we both got jobs at the GE Research Center in upstate New York. And I did research there for about a year like in grad school where I worked with a lot of fellow students in the lab,” said science teacher Mary White. “I was in a basement lab with no windows by myself. I hated it. I was more of a people person and wanted to work with people more directly. So I went to the Graduate College Union University and got my master’s in teaching there. I like school. I’m a big nerd. So I enjoyed it. But, yeah, so I kind of knew what I wanted to do in high school, took a little side road, but then ended up going back into teaching a little bit later.’’

Ryan Clark has also had an interesting wave of fun before finding a place and joining the Knights family.

“So I originally interviewed at Grayslake Central. I was one of the final applicants for who they were going to hire, and I didn’t end up getting the job at Grayslake Central. Still, then a job opened up at Grayslake North. Central ended up telling North about me, and within less than 24 hours of the first day of school, they asked if I was able to start the next day. So I originally applied for a job at Grayslake Central but luckily got a job here,” said physical education teacher Ryan Clark.

Many new teachers have been inspired to teach by their former teachers. The new additions to the family of Grayslake North have come a long way from their high school days through their college days and now teaching and following their dreams.

“I’ve always been really good at working with students and being a positive role model for them, so I wanted to be able to do that in high school in an age range where I’m able to teach more fitness-based concepts and strength and conditioning, so that’s why I chose to do high school teaching,” Clark said.

Going to college, and finding a path one really enjoys and would like to pass the enjoyment forth, can sure be a long journey.

‘’I will say there’s two people that kind of made me want to be a teacher. I didn’t want to be a teacher. When I was in college, I was a musician and I wanted to be a professional musician, but I never thought about teaching. I had one teacher in college that kind of changed that for me. And that was my choir director, and he was also my private piano instructor. What I loved about his style was that he always made it a point to build relationships with the students, and that made it easier to take risks in his classroom, which meant that our ceiling was higher for what we could do because we all felt comfortable with each other and we felt comfortable with him as our director, and it was just a great place to be pushed to be your best but also be supported, whether you were at your best or your worst, and I knew that that was – I thought that was – extremely meaningful. And then it ended up being like a goal of mine to kind of recreate that experience in my own room,” Mobertg said. “And another time was actually my first observation when I was an undergrad. And I watched the choir teacher at Deerfield High School and got a chance to interview her.’’

When finding a path one really wants to go down, having a good teacher to be able to open doors is very important.

“I had a great biology teacher when I was in high school at Andrew High School down in Tinley Park, Mrs. Kearney, and I enjoyed her class. I also worked with her as a science tutor later in my junior and sophomore year, so I think science and enjoying learning from a great teacher and tutoring students, I decided that would be a good field for me,” White said.

A lot of our teachers are still getting used to the new ways, as well as their new teaching environments. Although all teachers have different ways of teaching, all teachers play a big role in the school environment.

“I have been really enjoying it here at North. I love the sense of community here. I feel like any teacher I have interacted with or asked for help, which I’ve needed a lot of help, isn’t as a newbie teacher has been so good with helping me or helping figure out who could help me if they don’t have the answer for me. And I even see that sense of community among my students,’’ Clark said.

When coming to a new school, it’s interesting to see how teachers have visions and want to change or add onto new ways.

“I love it. I think it’s really cool. It’s a smaller school than a lot of high schools I’ve worked with before, and so it’s it feels a little more close-knit atmosphere as far as the students that I’ve had the privilege of having in the room. So far I’ve really enjoyed it; everyone seems really nice. There isn’t a lot of drama. Or maybe I just don’t know about the drama, which is also probably a possibility as well. But ignorance is bliss, I guess, but no, I really do enjoy it,” Moberg said.

When there are new teachers, it’s great to be able to welcome them and be able to make their time teaching at our school the best experience they will ever have.

“I’m enjoying it more than any other school I’ve worked at so far,’’ Clark said.