Every school year, we get the opportunity to meet new people. We sat down to learn more about our new teachers. Here is a quick introduction to each addition to the GCHS family.

Getting to Know Evan Hancock
Mr. Hancock teaches Biology Honors along with Environmental Science. Mr. Hancock attended UIC “where I was studying ecology and evolution. While I was there, I kind of fell in love with teaching”. Mr. Hancock ended up changing his career and said, “I found it much more satisfying than the research. I love doing fieldwork.” Mr. Hancock also stated “I’ve been living in Grayslake the last five years, so this is like coming home.”

Goals For the Year
“I want to make sure my students are successful, make sure that my students are happy and comfortable in the classroom and learn what they need to learn, and hopefully, this year end up with a nice curriculum that I can build off of moving forward.”

Getting to Know John David
Mr. David is currently teaching three sections of the PE course Team Sports. “Before GCHS, I spent 15 years teaching at an elementary school in Mt. Prospect”. Mr. David is a father to two boys, along with being a personal trainer on the side. When asked why he became a PE teacher, Mr. David said, “I’ve always loved sports and exercise. I knew that I was never the best player on the team, but I was always a good teammate and could help out. I always liked how coaches made me feel so I wanted to do that.”

Goals For the Year
With PE counting towards student’s GPA in the upcoming year, Mr. David said, “The goal is to try to get some really good assessments, some written tests, and different quizzes and things like that.”
“Number two for me is just to, you know, learn as much about the people around here and figure out how I can best help the teachers and students in the building.”

Getting to Know Taylor Edwards
Ms. Edwards teaches English II honors along with English III. “I’ve been at Grayslake Central for three years now, this is my first year being here full-time…ever since coming here, it’s just been so refreshing and I love it here. The students, staff, and everybody here is really incredible.” “I really love learning and when I was in elementary school, I would always be somebody who was like helping other students and whatnot.” Many of Ms. Edward’s teachers knew she would grow up to be a teacher.

Goals For the Year
“And something interesting is that in both classes I’m teaching we’re reinventing curriculum, so we’re doing totally new things in both classes. So I’m really looking forward to getting into some new stuff as well with those classes.” Ms. Edwards is making sure to take time to unplug from her computer and find a routine that supports this. Ms. Edwards is working towards making her classroom a positive place for students, “I’m trying to make sure that they feel represented in the classroom, and that they know that it’s a place for them to go when they need it.”.

Getting to Know Gabrielle Kelly
Ms. Kelly teaches English II and English III at Grayslake Central (GCHS). “I went to Northern Illinois University for my Bachelor’s. Ms. Kelly is returning to GCHS, just in a new aspect. “I actually taught here at GCHS in the fall of last year, with junior English under Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Ritter, and then I became the in-house permanent sub here in the spring.”. On the side, Ms. Kelly is a cheerleading coach at Lake Zurich High School.

Goals For the Year
“My philosophy is just to make sure that my culture and my environment in my classroom is set up for all students and that I am making sure that I’m as equitable as I possibly can to provide the most stable environment for them whether in my classroom.”. Along with having an organized classroom, Ms. Kelly aspires to be the teacher students will later remember as someone who was there for them.

Getting to Know Rebecca Roncone
Ms. Roncone teaches three PE courses at GCHS: strength and conditioning, freshman PE, and individual sports. In college, Ms. Roncone played softball for Benedictine University and always loved sports growing up. One of the reasons Ms. Roncone is a great fit for her position because she is “super energetic” and loves working with high school kids. “I picked Grayslake Central because everyone raved about it. And so it was like such a great place and it definitely lived up to that expectation”.

Goals For the Year
“I think just to like, make sure my kids are learning and having a great time doing it… go Rams”

Getting to know Sarai Vargas Aviles
Ms. Vargas teaches Spanish I and culture and communication on Earth. “I used to work in a university in Puerto Rico and in public relations before I even moved to the United States”. Ms. Vargas is a single mother and decided to go into education so she could spend more time with him. Soon enough, “I started my master’s because my students encouraged me to teach Spanish…when my students saw me as someone that they could rely on, I knew I could do this.” Ms. Sarai has a routine to prepare her for work, “in the morning when I wake up, I follow a Bible study. So I debrief and listen to someone interpreting the Bible in the morning. I exercise for almost an hour after that.”. Ms. Sarai also said, “And then in the afternoon, I come home and do yoga. Then I am ready to go to bed or relax.”.

Goals For the Year
Ms. Vargas wants her students to know, “When you learn a new language it’s like when you learn anything in life. I compare it with dancing because I love to dance. And I say, when you are in your mind, all the time, you’re gonna get messed up, just let it go. Let it flow.”

Getting to Know Mackenzie Stephens
Ms. Stephens teaches English I and English II. “I went to U of I in Urbana Champaign and I majored in secondary education”. Ms. Stephens loves literature and said, “I’m starting a reading club here with Miss Kelly. Our first meeting is on October 16.”. “So I was hoping to go into the field of education to be a teacher for students that makes them want to come back to school every day that make them want to come back to my class, make it a place for them that they can kind of adopt the same mindset that I had when I was in high school, that it’s a place that I’m lucky to come to a safe place” said Ms. Stephens. One way Ms. Stephens deals with the stress of being a teacher is by drinking tea at night and watching TV with her two cats.

Goals For the Year
“I also think that being involved in things outside of academic academics is really important. So that you have a connection to school that isn’t necessarily like you’re not just a teacher, you’re a member of the community”.

Getting to Know Madison Everett
Ms. Everett is one of GCHS’s algebra teachers along with numeracy interventions. Ms. Everett explains “When I first went to college, I knew I wanted to work with people. I actually went to college undeclared, and I thought I wanted to go into social work. But then I realized I really missed like, my math and science classes.” Ms. Everett then realized, “ I’m kind of good at helping people understand math. So I was like, I think I want to go into a career doing this. So then I started tutoring on campus”

Goals For the Year
“I’m just like trying to get more involved and to get to know more students.” I look forward to homecoming and the Powderpuff games coming up. I’m coaching the freshmen powder puff team. So I’m really excited for that. And then I’m going to be working the dance too. I’m just excited to see how Grayslake Central does things.”

Make sure to make these wonderful teachers feel welcome to Grayslake Central and show them what RAMILY is all about.