Maine South alumna’s last calculation

Ms. Monique Clark Math Teacher

About 50 years ago, the trajectory of my life took a turn when my family moved to Park Ridge, and in Park Ridge, Maine South looms large. The theater, sports, car-wash fundraisers, homecoming parade down Belle Plaine Avenue, neighbors and sisters getting ready for dances, all entered my life before I entered high school. Then, I was a freshman, and the four years flew by.

College revealed how well my teachers at Maine South prepared me to be curious, to formulate probing questions, and empowered me to be a lifelong learner. They were my first teacher role models. I wanted to engender the same characteristics in my students that they did in me, and I wanted to do it through the beautiful subject of math. Having worked in various schools before coming back to Maine South as a teacher, I saw the difference a school makes. By “school”

I mean the community of teachers, students, the adults who make the school run, and the expectations of everyone in the building, as well as a rigorous and engaging curriculum.

Coming back almost 20 years later as a teacher, and staying for another 23, some things seem to have remained the same, but many have not. When I started teaching, the graphing calculator (TI-81) was the latest technology and the big discussion was if and how to use them. The internet was in its infancy and Google didn’t exist. We still used physical textbooks, grades were not accessible through the internet, and students didn’t have cell phones. Everyone in the building had to wear a photo ID at all times. We didn’t ask students to put their phones in the phone pouch, we asked them to put on their ID’s. All doors to the building were unlocked (they became locked after 9/11). Quizzes and homework counted in the grade calculation, there were no retakes, and the grading scale used percentages from 0%-100%.

When I think of the students over the years, I know in my head they too have changed, but in my heart they have not. They always feed my teacher soul with their energy and joie de vivre; with their unexpected comments and questions; with their humor and insights; and with their expectant optimism as they start on the road of young adulthood. Being a teenager and young adult has its share of major struggles, yet it’s a time when you start making your own decisions about what kind of person you want to be. To have had a positive impact in any way on a student as they begin this journey is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a teacher.

I leave Maine South with meaningful memories. The ones that will loom large are working, socializing, laughing, and, at times, crying with colleagues/friends and students. Then there is the marching band playing the fight song through the hallways—the best! But my favorite overall memory will be those times when I’ve been a bystander in one of my classes when the students are working together, asking each other questions, answering them, and seemingly enjoying each other, math, and the feeling of those brain synapses firing away. In times like that, I feel I did my job. I sit back and watch them take responsibility for their learning and have a good time doing it.

Thank you Maine South for all the experiences that have helped form me as a student, a teacher, and a human being.

Walk down memory lane, and reminisce about key moments, features, and changes at Maine South from the past four years.

Across

4. You can climb the impossible inflatable ladder at this annual festival the last week of school.

Across

7. The Italian ice business that opened a location in Park Ridge in 2021.

4. : You can climb the impossible inflatable ladder at this annual festival the last week of school

10. This area became the HPL, TRX Room, and dance studio after our freshman year.

7. : The loved shaved ice business that opened a location in Park Ridge in 2021

13. The former title of the Maine South Dance Company.

10. : This area has since been replaced b HPL, wrestling dojo, and dance studio

14. Turn left off this street to enter the athletic lot at Maine South.

15. Last name of Maine South’s school resource officer.

13. : The former title of the Maine South Dance Company

17. This family sitcom features a Maine South, Roosevelt, and Lincoln alumni.

14. : Turn left off this street to enter the athletic lot at Maine South

18. The last name of the Maine South administrator who was nominated for the Golden Apple award in the 2022-2023 school year.

15. : Maine South’s school resource officer https://crosswordlabs.com/view/senior-448

20. The D207 academy located at the corner of Dee road and Devon Avenue.

21. Heyyy ____, say what! Go Hawks!

22. The location of the only vending machine that sells the Bublr energy drinks.

23. The official name of the school’s football field.