In case you didn’t know, our podcast Teachers’ Lounge is also on the radio! We’ve got all the interviews with Illinois teachers and education stories you love -- along with exclusive segments -- in a monthly, hour-long show on WNIJ.
On this episode, we’re talking with Tracey Sanderson! She’s an agriculture teacher at Hinckley-Big Rock High School.
She not only teaches classes like Intro to agriculture, she’s also teaching woodworking, welding, engines, horticulture, pre-veterinary science -- the list goes on and on.
And sometimes she needs to add another skill to the utility belt for one of her students. Recently, she had a student super into music and so she decided to learn how to build guitars…and reached out to a guitar maker for lessons.
“He literally starts laughing! He goes, ‘either you're the best teacher ever or you have no idea what you're doing,'" she said. "I was just chuckling. I have a kid who has this need. I can reach the kids need by learning this new skill. I'm going to learn this new skill.”
Also, our chat with Katey Armstrong is a Family and Consumer Science teacher at West Aurora High School. Some of you may know family and consumer science as “Home Ec,” which means Katey teaches all sorts of courses from Foods to Interior Design to giving future teachers a peak behind the curtain of how learning really happens.
And with those subjects, it’s not that hard to show students WHY it’s relevant to their lives. We all want to have a good education, yes, and we all want to eat good food and live in a beautiful home. Katey allows them to think critically about the art and craft behind it.
On this episode, we’re also introducing you to our brand-new classroom correspondent: Dominique Yackley! She’s a 5th-grade teacher at Founders Elementary School in DeKalb. We’re very excited for you to get to know Dominique and her passion for her students. Of course, it’s the very beginning of the school year now, and I’m curious what the first week of 5th grade in her class looks like as she tries to build trust with her new students.
If you’ve never listened before, our show is based on an idea -- we’ve all had teachers in our lives who shaped who we are. And we want to hear about the teachers who inspired you. Every educator we have on Teachers’ Lounge, whether teacher, coach, counselor, or professor, is nominated by our listeners.
So, tell us about the person who comes to your mind. Shoot us an email and nominate an educator at teacherslounge@niu.edu and they could be on the show!
Don’t worry – the podcast isn’t going anywhere. You can still catch episodes every other Friday on WNIJ.org or wherever you get podcasts.
