Twenty years after they got their feet wet in teaching, spent countless nights swapping stories on the kitchen floor of their Hyde Park apartment, and navigated Chicago and a new way of living, this group of 5 student teaching alumni appeared at the 2023 Chicago Center alumni picnic. The reunion brought them all together in one place for the first time since their time in Chicago and a chance to share their story and connection with the community.
In the spring of 2003, they celebrated their last day in the program. Leah Ratzlaff, Elissa Hoffert, Jennifer Amorose, Courtney Szucs, and Amanda Niemiec spent a semester teaching in the city's diverse schools and sharing experiences that transcended their different backgrounds. They grew together through new opportunities as big as testing out their future careers, and seeing the world from different perspectives and as small as carrying laundry to the laundromat, and hauling groceries home many blocks from the store and up flights of stairs.
Chicago Center Deputy Director Cameron Dreher-Siefkes, SU’09, recently caught up with these alumni. Read more about their conversation.
The Chicago Center: Can you share a story from your experience at the Chicago Center?
Elissa Hoffert: “I hadn't experienced apartment living before my time in Chicago, so that transition felt like a significant leap.”
Jennifer Amorose: “I still am not quite sure how I got anywhere alive. I'm very directionally challenged.”
Leah Ratzlaff: “This was before Google would tell you what bus to get on. The staff gave us a map and a 30-day bus pass and they said, ‘you need to make these two stops along the way.’ We had to figure out how we were going to get there and on what bus, but I remember them saying, if you get on the bus going the wrong way, just act like you know what you're doing. Get off at the next stop, cross the street, and get on the bus going the opposite direction. But don't let anyone know. That's the philosophy for life, right? Like, don't let anybody know. Just keep going.”
"I thought I knew how the world worked, and learned that the world worked in a completely different way. Working with kids, I found out that I couldn't act like I knew. I learned that I couldn't fake it, because it was so obvious that my perspective was completely different from theirs."
Amanda Niemiec: “We just did everything together. We all took turns cooking and making meals together. We went grocery shopping together. We would spend our weekends together. We would pick each other up with cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. We did all the things together.”
While developing close relationships, they each embarked on unique journeys within the classroom, including the priceless opportunity to gain experience through student teaching in an urban setting. These encounters left a lasting impression and shaped their paths in the educational field throughout their careers.
The Chicago Center: How has your career been impacted by your time in Chicago?
Elissa Hoffert: “I thought I knew how the world worked, and learned
that the world worked in a completely different way. Working with kids, I found out that I couldn't act like I knew. I learned that I couldn't fake it, because it was so obvious that my perspective was completely different from theirs.”
Courtney Szucs: “I was able to have these really great discussions on topics I wasn't used to having discussions on with the kids. They were really curious about me being white and what that meant. I still kept with that same philosophy of really developing relationships with kids and families and having really open conversations. And that's still kind of my approach, even in administration. But I think it was because I had that particular type of student teaching experience.”
Amanda Niemiec: “I always wanted to teach in an urban area, so that's why I went to the Chicago Center. Then of course, my first two years in teaching after the Center, I ended up in the middle of a cornfield teaching, but I think it helped because the experiences that we had teaching in the city, got us to stretch our ideas and our thinking about education in general. Then when I was in Las Vegas, it felt like it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Like I'd already done this really hard thing with a bunch of support.”
Leah Ratzlaff: “Nancy Friesen [Urban Student Teaching Program Director] would challenge us. She would say, ‘You did this so well. What will you do better next time?’ And the first couple times, I thought if I did it well why would I need to do better? She helped us understand there's always something you can improve on. There's always some reflection you can do.”
Jennifer Amorose: “I get to reflect on the fact that I did that really cool thing. Like, I get to reflect on the fact that I had this experience that like 43-year-old me right now can't even admit, like, it was like, oh my God, I did that.”
The Chicago Center: Anything to add about your experience?
Amanda Niemiec: “The experience opened my eyes to the way the world is and it wasn't what I thought I knew. And that's a really good thing because even now, like, I still live in Nebraska and I have something different to bring to the table. I just feel the experience is so ingrained in who I am now. Like I can't imagine having not been there.”
Leah Ratzlaff: “I think part of the reason we all got along is that we were all thrown into something that was so, I don't wanna say foreign, but so different for all of us. And we all had a common goal. We were all working towards a degree. We were all wanting to be better humans and learn.”
Amanda Niemiec: “I always wanted to teach in an urban area, so that's why I went to the Chicago Center. Then of course, my first two years in teaching after the Center, I ended up in the middle of a cornfield teaching, but I think it helped because the experiences that we had teaching in the city, got us to stretch our ideas and our thinking about education in general. Then when I was in Las Vegas, it felt like it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Like I'd already done this really hard thing with a bunch of support.”
Leah Ratzlaff: “Nancy Friesen [Urban Student Teaching Program Director] would challenge us. She would say, ‘You did this so well. What will you do better next time?’ And the first couple times, I thought if I did it well why would I need to do better? She helped us understand there's always something you can improve on. There's always some reflection you can do.”
Jennifer Amorose: “I get to reflect on the fact that I did that really cool thing. Like, I get to reflect on the fact that I had this experience that like 43-year-old me right now can't even admit, like, it was like, oh my God, I did that.”
The Chicago Center: Anything to add about your experience?
Amanda Niemiec: “The experience opened my eyes to the way the world is and it wasn't what I thought I knew. And that's a really good thing because even now, like, I still live in Nebraska and I have something different to bring to the table. I just feel the experience is so ingrained in who I am now. Like I can't imagine having not been there.”
Leah Ratzlaff: “I think part of the reason we all got along is that we were all thrown into something that was so, I don't wanna say foreign, but so different for all of us. And we all had a common goal. We were all working towards a degree. We were all wanting to be better humans and learn.”
“I think part of the reason we all got along is that we were all thrown into something that was so, I don't wanna say foreign, but so different for all of us. And we all had a common goal. We were all working towards a degree. We were all wanting to be better humans and learn.”
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