Faculty & Staff
Latin welcomes new faculty members
Sep 14, 2007, 14:51

Cynthia Arreola
Cynthia Arreola will teach Upper School Spanish. She most recently taught at the Whitfield School in St. Louis, where she also coached girls’ basketball and track and worked with student groups on diversity awareness. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Chia-Chee Chiu
Chia-Chee Chiu will teach seventh grade science. She has been at several schools, such as Ethical Culture Fieldston School and the School at Columbia University, both in New York City, and the University Lake School and the Indian Community School, both in Wisconsin. Chia-Chee has taught middle school science her entire career, along with some Upper School service and leadership courses. She has also served as a girls’ basketball coach and student government advisor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in ecology, evolution, and organismal biology from Tulane University, and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction is from the University of Kansas.

Susan Chong
Susan Chong will assist second grade this year. She comes from three years of teaching middle school mathematics in Des Plaines. After receiving her Bachelor’s from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Elementary Education, she is currently working towards her master’s in school counseling at Northeastern Illinois University.

Fiona Deeney
Fiona Deeney will teach first grade at the Lower School. She moved from Michigan where she taught kindergarten for the last seven years at Cranbrook Schools. Prior to that, Fiona was here at Latin, as the Lower School computer curriculum coordinator and first and second grade science teacher. She has a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute-Chicago. Fiona has given technology workshops and presentations for ISACS and AIMS (Association of Independent Michigan Schools) and also taught summer courses for early childhood teachers at Erikson Early Childhood Institute on the topic of Integrating Technology into the Curriculum. She received the Rosalie and Morrey Harris Award for Early Career Educators at Cranbrook in 2002.

Andrew French
Andrew French will teach seventh grade history at Latin. Andrew taught World History, U.S. History, and Government and Politics at the Chicago Academy for the Arts. He has already served as the junior varsity baseball coach and assistant Middle School basketball coach at Latin. Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Valparaiso University, a master’s in teaching in secondary social studies education from National-Louis University and is currently working toward a master’s degree in history from DePaul University.

Steve Gordon
Steve Gordon will teach English and one elective course (Bible 101) in the Upper School. A native of Milwaukee, Steve comes to Latin by way of Dallas, where he pursued both undergraduate and graduate studies in English at the University of Dallas. After receiving his master’s degree, he taught middle school English for three years at St. Monica School before moving to the high school level to teach for another three years at Ursuline Academy of Dallas. In addition to his love of literature, he has a commitment to community service and has coordinated and participated in numerous service-related events at his previous schools.

Ted Graf
Ted Graf is Latin's new Upper School Director. Ted has taught and administered at several independent schools, most recently at The Gailer School, located in Middlebury, VT and prior to that at Watkinson School in Hartford, CT. He has been deeply involved in the Coalition of Essential Schools, both as a graduate student while at Brown University and later serving on the Coalition's national board. Trained as an English teacher, Ted is a published poet and spent several summers as an instructor at Hurricane Island Outward Bound School in Maine. He is also proud to say that he received a fellowship to The MacDowell Colony, an artists' colony located in Peterborough, NH.

Lexi Gross
Lexi Gross, the new third grade assistant teacher, recently moved to Chicago from New York City, where she worked in communications for two years. She completed her bachelors in Atlanta at Emory University while working with children part-time. She's excited to be back working with children and can be found exploring Chicago, playing tennis, or at the yoga studio after school. She'll be working towards a master’s degree in education this spring.

Patty Hicks
Patricia Hicks will join the faculty to teach Upper School history. Patty comes to Latin from St. Timothy’s School in Maryland, where she taught AP U.S. History, International Baccalaureate 20th Century European History, and American Studies, a humanities class that combined American history and literature. Patty was the former dean for St. Timothy’s sophomore class, the faculty representative to the Honor Council, and the school’s Model U.N. sponsor. She earned her bachelor’s degree in history and public policy at the University of Denver and her Master of Education degree in learning and teaching from Harvard. In addition to working for several years at Walt Disney Studios, Patty also taught English as a second language in Poland.

Helen Kopec
Helen Kopec is a first grade assistant. Her experience includes working at Latin’s Extended Day and Summer Camp programs. She holds a bachelor's degree from Depaul University in Business and Diversity Issues. She is currently pursuing her master's in elementary education at DePaul.

Maura Kwilosz
Maura Kwilosz will be joining the first grade team as an assistant teacher. A native of Chicago, she attended Millikin University and completed her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. She is currently pursuing a master's degree from DePaul University, which she will finish at the end of this school year.

Jesse Lewin
Jesse Lewin is the new fourth grade assistant teacher. He is a recent graduate of Kenyon College, where he majored in International Studies and Spanish. During his time in college, he served on student council and was the vice-president of the debating team. He also has also worked at Camp Thunderbird in Bemidji, Minnesota with boys ages 10-12 for the past seven summers.

Ed Mahoney
Ed Mahoney will teach Middle and Upper School math. Ed most recently taught Pre-calculus Mathematics and Beginning Algebra at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has an interest in outdoor education, an area Latin aims to strengthen, and worked in an outdoor program for Chicago youth. He has also taught in the High Jump program at Latin for two summers. Ed holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in teaching secondary mathematics from University of Illinois at Chicago.

Jennifer Nabers
Jennifer Nabers will teach seventh grade English teacher at Latin. Jennifer began her teaching career as a Teach for America corps member in Houston. She has taught sixth grade at the Head-Royce School in Oakland, CA and at several other schools in the Bay and Houston, TX, areas. She taught fifth grade and served as the service learning coordinator at Epiphany School in Seattle, WA. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Villanova University and has worked in English and humanities throughout her career, including as a long-term language arts substitute for the Latin School in 2006.

Jackie Nees
Jackie Nees will teach 3rd through 5th grade French. Fluent in French, Spanish and German, Jackie has taught with the Language Stars program for the past seven years. At Language Stars, Jackie was the lead French teacher and most recently served as center director for their Wilmette Fun Foreign Language Immersion programs. Previously, she taught French at Concordia Language Villages' Lac du Bois summer camps. Jackie holds a bachelor's degree in French studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and she is completing a Master of Arts in Teaching at National Louis University. Jackie lived in France for more than two years and in Germany and Spain for a year and three months, respectively.

Sarah Rouse
Sarah will be a part-time library assistant in the Upper School Library. Most recently she was a cataloger for Columbia College Library. Sarah has worked with youths in a range of age groups, serving as a tutor, camp counselor, college instructor and mentor. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota, and a master’s degree in medieval studies from Western Michigan University.

Laura Rucinski
Laura Rucinski will be the physical education assistant at the Lower School. She has previously taught physical education, health and anatomy at the high school level both in Chicago and the Northwest suburbs. Laura has coached teams in basketball, softball, volleyball and cross-country. In addition to teaching, Laura has served as a director of athletics, overseeing student- athletes in six IHSA sanctioned sports.

Geraldine Schmadeke
Geraldine Schmadeke will teach AP Biology and Biology in the Upper School. A native of Ireland, Geraldine earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and a higher diploma in science education from University College Cork. Geraldine first taught biology and chemistry at Loreto Abbey in Dublin, where she prepared secondary school students for rigorous state exams in those subjects. Since that time she has been at the Willows Academy in Des Plaines, where she was science department chair and taught AP Biology and sections of Honors Biology and Honors Chemistry. Her work in AP Biology at Willows was distinguished by
her serious and comprehensive approach to laboratory work, which she continued in her coaching of the World Youth in Science and Engineering team. In addition to her teaching, Geraldine has served as National Honor Society sponsor.

Frank Schneider
Frank Schneider will be working with students in the theatre. He comes to Latin after working at Francis Parker and New Trier High School. He came into teaching while he was working in a professional scene shop when he was invited back to work at his alma mater, the University of Chicago Laboratory School, to help on the spring show. After working on shows for several years, he decided teaching was the path for him. He has a BFA from New York University in Drama and an MAT from the history department at University of Illinois Chicago.

Weixin Shi
Weixin Shi will join the faculty to teach Upper School Chinese. Weixhin is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in economics and computer science and of Shanghai International Studies University in Japanese. Weixin has worked as a management consultant in the Boston area, as a translator at a publications firm in the Chicago suburbs, as a Mandarin Chinese instructor at Berlitz in Chicago, and as an instructor of Chinese at the Chicago Chinese Cultural Institute. Weixin also substituted for Latin’s Chinese teachers last year.

Carrie Smey
Carrie Smey will teach third grade in the Lower School. Carrie received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana and her master’s from National-Louis University in Chicago. Carrie has been teaching first and third grade for seven years in both the public and private school systems of north-suburban Chicago. In addition to teaching, Carrie has also enjoyed being a middle school volleyball and soccer coach.

Laura Wangerin
Laura Wangerin will be our new Upper School history teacher. Laura has most recently taught world and ancient history at Cranbrook Schools in Michigan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history, English, and Spanish from Ripon College and a master’s degree from Indiana University. At Indiana, Laura was an instructor and graduate assistant in the religious studies and history departments. Laura also holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree. She worked as library and information services and collection manager at the Brown County Library in Green Bay, WI.

Barbara Woodman
Barbara Woodman comes to Latin from Quest Academy, where she was the middle school director. Previously, she taught Math and Science at North Shore Country Day School. She has been a teacher of various subjects for over twenty years, working in gifted education, the Math and Science Olympiad and Future Problem Solving Bowl. She also has experience in curriculum writing and mapping and has written National Science Foundation and State of Illinois Grants for creating special programs that were not in place before.

Cory Zeller
Cory Zeller will be teaching Upper School English and AP Psychology. Cory graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts in Curriculum Development, certification in secondary English and psychology from the University of Michigan. Cory comes to Latin from the International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, MI, where she taught World Literature, American Literature, and the International Baccalaureate program’s Theory of Knowledge. At IA, Cory directed the theater and forensics programs and served on many school committees. Before her time in Michigan, she interned and taught at The Town School for Boys in San Francisco.


Other Latin Faculty News:

Eve Alexander, who joined the Latin faculty in 1999 after teaching and coaching at Lake Forest Academy for several years, will serve as math chair. She graduated from Lake Forest College and earned a Master’s of Science for Teachers in mathematics from the University of New Hampshire. In addition to teaching, she has chaired the Faculty Council, coached middle school softball and has been involved in numerous service activities at Latin. Given her experience in both Latin’s Middle and Upper Schools, Eve is uniquely qualified to address the complex issues the school faces in math placement and the sequence of courses students follow during their school careers.

Anil Chopra, David Fript, David Marshall and Jeff Windus, four respected Latin faculty members, will work on the school’s role in furnishing families with consistent, helpful advice on course selections. These individual will take on additional responsibilities as grade-level academic advisors. Their task will be to meet with all families in a grade to discuss the following year’s academic choices. With the yearly input of parents, they will guide the student in developing or revising a four-year plan of class work, extracurricular activities, and Project Week and senior year capstone opportunities.

Steven Coberly is the new department chair for Middle and Upper School science. Steven holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and international relations from Brown University and a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Michigan. In addition, he completed Benedictine University’s certification program in science education. Steven taught physics at the renowned Lawrenceville School in New Jersey for several years, and after a period working as an attorney, he joined Latin’s faculty in 2003. At our school he has taught various levels of physics and chemistry, the Cosmology course, and the Science of Music course, which he designed. Steven has been the grade-level dean for the senior class, a member of the Disciplinary Committee and Capstone/Senior Year Committee, and a participant in the Gospel Choir and Student-Faculty Chorale. Steven has been charged with making our science department one of the finest in the country by instituting current best practices in faculty development, curriculum renewal and technology implementation.

Ingrid Dorer Fitzpatrick, under the title Director of Upper School Academic Initiatives, will continue to lead our outstanding LIFE (Latin Initiative for Ethics) speaker and study series and guide the Student Academic Board that advises the faculty on a variety of school issues. In addition, Ingrid will focus on the newly developed Capstone Program that will revitalize the senior year with outside research in conjunction with Chicago institutions. Lastly, Ingrid will work with the science and math departments on developing interdisciplinary courses.

After 26 years of chairing the mathematics department, Warren Hawley will move to a full-time teaching position and to a leadership role in the new mentoring program for incoming department chairs. Warren has developed a program that will lead new chairs through a study of the most important issues in their complex positions, such as hiring, evaluating teachers, budgeting, writing curriculum, placing students, working with parents, and other topics.

Brian Hennelly will teach Upper School English. Brian has most recently worked in Latin’s Lower and Middle Schools. In addition to being a Latin School alumnus, Brian holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Middlebury College and a master’s degree from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. He undertook a year of study abroad at Rennes, France, a year at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and graduate work at Lincoln College, Oxford University. Brian has coached Middle School baseball and served on many academic committees at Latin.

Mary Jo Houck from the Middle School and Jeff Windus from the Upper School will share interim chair responsibilities for the English department this year. They will consult with new Upper School head Ted Graf and Vice President of Academic Affairs Jeff Walkington, who both have backgrounds in English, and outside consultants in charting the course for the English curriculum for grades 6-12.




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