On our show today, Andrea Gustafson! She’s an English teacher, speech team coach, and director of the theater program at Morris Community High School.
Morris is also her hometown, so it’s been meaningful to build a career at the same school she went to and continue the legacy of the teachers who inspired her.
“I tell my speech classes, I literally took speech in this room,” she said. “For those of you sitting there nervous and scared, I was that kid.”
Andrea has a real passion for theater and speech. But, sometimes, it’s a little bit difficult to pitch students on why they should join the speech team.
“I always laugh, because when you when you describe speech to a person, it sounds horrible,” she said. “You get up early on a Saturday and put on a suit and give speeches, which is like the No. 1 fear of people.”
We also talk about theater, the importance of the community supporting school performances, and much more…
If you’ve never listened to Teachers’ Lounge 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 or deserve a spotlight in your community. Every educator we have on this podcast, whether teacher, coach, counselor or professor, is nominated by our listeners.
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SHOW NOTES
Educator in this episode:
Andrea Gustafson
Stories in this episode:
Music: Our show's theme music is from the northern Illinois-based band "Kindoves" and their songs "Popn," "Origins" and "Quiche." You can find more of their music on their Soundcloud page. You can also listen to the episode of WNIJ's Sessions from Studio A where they were featured.
Teachers! People who know teachers! People with stories about teachers! Send us an email and be part of the show!
