What’s your name and what subjects do you teach? My name is Marissa Moss and I teach social studies, specifically U.S. History and Black and Latinx Studies.
How long have you been teaching for? This is my first full-time job at Niles North, but I was a substitute teacher before coming here at CPS and I used to teach at UIUC.
Is there a big difference between being a substitute teacher and a full-time teacher? Definitely. I mean, when I was a long-term substitute, I could build relationships with students, but I’d only be there for maybe one or two weeks at a time. So, you know, it’s really different having your own classroom and getting to be in one place and really build community and relationships with people. It’s a little bit more hectic being a sub.
What’s your favorite thing about Niles North? My favorite thing is the students, the students are amazing. All the kids in my classes make everything worth it, and it’s fun to see them make connections in our history classes and learn new things.
What was your favorite subject as a student? English was my favorite. I liked English, and I liked journalism. Those are two classes that I really prioritized. History was not my favorite in high school, but it’s cool.
What made you start teaching history? So in undergrad, I took a class called Black Women in the Diaspora and then a class all about black womanhood. And those two classes made me realize that history was so much bigger than what I thought it was when I was going through high school and that there are so many different ways that you can interpret the same, even through different people’s lenses. That really changed my mind about history because I thought it was super boring as a student and didn’t feel connected to it. So I try to make sure that there’s some sort of connection for my students.
What is your favorite thing to do outside of school? I love spending time with my family and my dog. I think quality time is really important to me, and you can’t put a price on the peace of mind that you get when hanging out with people that you really care about.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? I would love to be able to teleport anywhere or be able to heal people. That would be my top two things. I’d love to travel more, but I’d also like to just make people feel better or happier.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Oh my gosh, Spain. I am really excited because I think I’m going to Spain next summer. I’ve always wanted to go to Spain, I love the food, the culture, and the history of the cities.
Where in the world have you traveled so far? So far, I’ve been to India, Costa Rica, Germany, and Mexico, those are some places out of the country. But also in the U.S., I love going to other major cities.
What can always put you in a good mood? I mean a lot of things, because I feel like I’m easy to smile. But probably jokes or like silliness, I feel like in my classrooms my students are always making me laugh, and it’s like we have to regroup.
