What is your name, position, and what are your pronouns? I’m Ms. Schack, I’m a social studies teacher, and my pronouns are she/her.
What are your responsibilities at Niles North? I teach Modern World History and AP Government & Politics. My responsibilities are to make sure my students are learning in the classroom and then transferring those skills outside of the classroom.
What did you do before you came to Niles North? I was a teacher at Back of the Yard College Prep in Chicago. I was a social studies teacher there and also a soccer coach.
Were you always expecting to be where you are now? No, I didn’t realize I wanted to be a teacher until I was a freshman in college. Then I really fell in love with it and now I can never imagine myself in any other career or field.
What has been the most interesting or surprising thing about Niles North? The most interesting thing has been just learning about the community and being in the community. I grew up in Northbrook so I was familiar with Niles North, but now that I’m part of the community, it’s [created] a completely different understanding, which has been so lovely.
What do you like to do when you get home? I like to be active, so running, or swimming, or biking, and reading as well. Otherwise I spend a lot of time hanging out with my family or my friends, and exploring Chicago, and going on walks.
How do you spend a lazy weekend? A social weekend? A social weekend would just be hanging out with friends, trying out a new restaurant. A lazy weekend would be never leaving my couch.
What life moment impacted how you view/approach politics the greatest? When I was younger, I hated politics. I thought it was really boring and full of arguments. It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized politics was a great place to have respect[ful] discourse where people could share their ideas. It was [not] a particular moment, but it was just a new understanding of the purpose of politics and how it can be used to bring people together instead of dividing them.
What’s the weirdest fact you know about the U.S. government? It’s not really that fun of a fact, but in the White House there’s a bowling alley, and I think that’s cool.
What do you have to say to the people at North who are anxious about the election? If you’re able to vote, you should vote, and you should have a plan of how you are going to vote. There’s always anxiety around [the] election and [you should] make sure that you’re listening to others with empathy as you would like to be listened to.
