What is your name and department? Michael Beeftink, science department, I teach AP Environmental Science and biology.

How long have you worked at Niles North? I student-taught here 35 years ago, but I’ve taught here for 33 years.

What’s been your favorite part of North throughout this time? I’ve got a lot of favorite things. The student body has always been kind of awesome. The kids here are responsive, responsible, and hardworking, and for the most part. I mean, we all have our off-days, but I think as a whole, we have a student body that really tries to be students, usually. I’ve enjoyed some of the clubs I’ve done—I did Environmental Club for a while. We used to go camping; I took the kids to Quetico Provincial Park in Canada, canoeing, a couple of summers. But I really enjoy the AP Environmental Science curriculum and the field trips that are involved with that.

How were the camping trips? Oh, boy. Those were a long time ago; I was a young man. They were fun. AP, environmental, at the end of the year, we’d go camping for a weekend. Not all of them would go—we’d get, you know, four or five kids that would go—and that was always fun. For some people, it was their first time camping, so it was kind of an experience.

Why did you want to become a teacher? A bunch of reasons. My dad was a teacher; my dad taught science. He was at Niles West, and so there’s been a Beeftink here for 60 years, which is hard to believe, but yeah. My dad was at Niles West; he started there in, I think, ‘66, so that was a part of it. And, I mean, I went into research, and I realized that research science was interesting, but I missed kind of the social component of working with people, and teaching just led right into that.

What words of wisdom or advice would you give to aspiring teachers? Oh boy… Not every day is perfect, not every day is easy, but if you stick with it, many days are rewarding.

What are you going to miss most about working at North? I think I’m going to miss the staff members that I’ve become friends with. I know I’ll see them outside here, but I’ll miss, again, that daily social interaction, that part. So I don’t know what I’ll do in retirement. I’ll probably do something else. That may end up being at a school, or maybe back in research, but I think I’m going to miss the social interaction and the camaraderie of this place.

Is there anyone specific whom you’d want to shout-out for making your time here better? I’ll get myself in trouble, so I don’t know if I’m going to shout-out anybody. I’ll shout-out the whole science department. I’ve got an awesome department of great, hardworking fellow colleagues. So, shout-out the whole department.

What are your plans for the future? Boy, you know, that’s kind of wide-open. Right now, I’m not looking for work in the sense of, like, I need to find a job. If something presents itself, if I were to get a phone call: “Hey, we could use someone as a long-term sub, we could use someone to do this,” I might jump on something like that. But otherwise, I think I’m going to take up doing some of my hobbies. I may take guitar lessons. I may take some classes at Oakton because it wouldn’t be super expensive, and I could be a college student again for a little bit. Since I’m graduating from high school after 33 years, I might as well do some college work. I’m going to kind of leave it open to see, at least for one year, how things go. I have a son going into high school, so I’ll be able to be that dad that drives him to school and those kinds of things.

Are there any specific hobbies or things that you’d like to do in your free time? I enjoy bird-watching and fishing, a couple of nerdy science things, especially in environmental science. So, I’ll probably do more of that. I want to learn to play guitar, so I’ll probably pick up a guitar and go to Old Town and see if I can learn a little. I was a musician in high school, and then I kind of gave that up, so maybe I’ll go back to music a little bit. I played the trombone, so totally unrelated. I don’t think you want to hear me play trombone anymore, though.

Is there anything else that you’d like to include that I didn’t mention? I know I’m gonna miss this place. Having a parent who taught in the district, even though it was at Niles West, I’ve kind of been part of this district my whole childhood. I did not go to high school here, but I went to sporting events and plays and everything, from little childhood all the way up until my retirement here. And I’ll probably come back for some of those. So, it’s going to be interesting not being here, because, as I say, it’s been 60 years that there’s been a Beeftink in the district, and that’s coming to an end. But I’m excited. I mean, it’s been a long run in a sense, and I’ve enjoyed every minute, but sometimes maybe a new challenge is exciting.