What is your name and department? How long have you worked at Niles North My name is Jean Attig and I’m in the Business Education Department. I have taught in D219 since 1997. I taught 20 years at West, and have been at North since 2017. I also taught an elective at Niles Central for five years, so I have been everywhere.
What’s been your favorite part of North throughout this time? When I came to Niles North eight years ago, the DECA program had less than 25 students. Only 17 qualified for state and seven of them for nationals. Now compare that to this past year where we had over 100 members in the chapter and took the maximum amount of 65 to state and then took 23 students to nationals in Orlando!
What words of wisdom or advice would you give to aspiring teachers? I asked my students what they liked best about some of their teachers and this is what they said: You should be down-to-earth, show kindness, be relatable, share life stories, show a passion for their content, build meaningful relationships, be honest, always show flexibility, and don’t be afraid to infuse sarcasm into the classroom.
What are your plans for the future? Everyone asks me this and I don’t really know. My ultimate goal is to move to Florida to live near my kids. I have been teaching for the past 34 years and I would just like to slow down a little. I plan to substitute teach a couple of days a week, travel the world with other retired friends, travel to Florida to visit my daughter, follow my son around the country as he finishes up his college bowling career, go on some adventures with my husband during lower peak travel times, and look for volunteer opportunities for causes I am passionate about.
