Our education podcast, Teachers' Lounge is also on the radio. We feature interviews with Illinois teachers and education stories you love, along with exclusive segments, in a monthly, hourlong show on WNIJ.
On this episode, it's Tracy Paszotta!
At the end of this past school year, she found herself strolling down the hallway at Littlejohn Elementary School for the final time, clad in a sash and a crown, as kids held up homemade signs and waved goodbye.
She was retiring after 30 years as an elementary school teacher in her hometown of DeKalb — mostly in Kindergarten.
Tracy is so funny and so good at articulating why she loves teaching and why she loves Kindergarten specifically.
We also sit down with Anne Shippy! She’s an eighth grade history teacher at Dawes Elementary in Chicago.
Picture Chicago in the dead of winter. It’s a cold morning, still dark as students walk the icy sidewalks to school. On the far south side of the city, Anne watches her middle school students walk in without hats and without gloves. They often don’t have school supplies either like pencils, notebooks, or folders. And the classroom needs books.
It used to be that if you wanted to do a fun project or something extra, teachers would have to pay for it out of their own pocket. But now, teachers like Shippy have to pay for the basics too.
We also have a "classroom correspondent" on the show. This is the teacher we interview each month to follow a school year in their life.
This year, our new correspondent is Kelcey Dodd! She’s a kindergarten teacher at Spring Creek Elementary in Rockford.
Kelcey is in her first-year as a teacher, so we’re going to be checking in on her as she figures things out. She's from Rockford too, so it’s even more meaningful to be teaching at home.
Finally, we check in with our brand-new student correspondents for the fall: the Amboy High School marching band!
If you have never listened before, the show is based on a simple idea: We have all had teachers who shaped who we are. We want to hear about the educators who inspired you. Every guest on Teachers' Lounge — whether a teacher, coach, counselor or professor — is nominated by listeners.
So tell us about the person who comes to your mind. Send us an email to nominate an educator at teacherslounge@niu.edu, and they could be on the show!
Don't worry — the podcast is still available. You can catch episodes every other Friday on WNIJ.org or wherever you get podcasts.
