She’s been the Chicagoland Lutheran Educational Foundation Teacher of the Year and a nominee for the Golden Apple Award, but Mrs. Margaret Smith will be the first to tell you that she was never going to teach. “My mother wanted me to be a teacher,” she said, “but I never wanted to!” Instead, Mrs. Smith went into advertising and publishing, eventually becoming a product designer for children’s toys, video games, textbooks, packaging and expo displays. A learning disability in her own family motivated her to learn about the educational process and one thing led to another, culminating in a second career that she is very passionate about. The Joliet and Oak Park native confesses that her first teaching experience was a little rough, but persistence and a love for students won out. Mrs. Smith has taught English at Oak Park River Forest High School, religion at Grace Lutheran School in River Forest and has also educated students at Our Saviour in Chicago. She loves to travel and has been to Paris and Egypt. Washington Island in Door County, Wisconsin is a favorite destination. She would like to visit the Holy Land someday. Mrs. Smith finds inspiration in Scripture, especially Job, which is her favorite Wisdom Book, Ecclesiastes 3 (“To everything there is a season…”), 1 Kings 19 (when Elijah in the cave hears the “still, small voice” of God) and too many favorite hymns to name. She reads a lot and recently enjoyed Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott and The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. Mrs. Smith sings alto in her church choir at Grace Lutheran in River Forest, where she teaches 8th grade confirmation and is a Stephen Minister. Jewelry making is one of her favorite pastimes. Her husband Mark is in the book bindery business, son Matthew is a restaurateur and father to 1½ year old Jack and son Michael is studying at Triton College. Mrs. Smith has a deep awareness of the needs of the whole child and knows that special education, tutoring and additional enrichment are tools that teachers and families can take advantages of. “Multiage learning,” she says, “can ease anxiety for students at either end of the learning spectrum.” Mrs. Smith believes that the biggest challenge for the Academy will be to “build a sense of unity and strength…become a family.” One of her goals as an Academy teacher is to “create alumni who are people with such a sense of connection, who are sent out with such skill, that they come back to honor the school that they are from.” |
