Bridget Lesinski –
Upper School science teacher
Upper School girls varsity golf coach
Lesinski teaches classes at Parker from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the latest, and golf practice starts at 3:30 p.m. Most of the practice time is in Skokie causing the team to arrive back at Parker around 7:30 p.m. “I try to get to Parker at 7:30 a.m. and get ‘locked in’ in the morning, so I don’t have much to do at night because I am usually so tired,” Lesinski said. This is her first year coaching the golf team, and she hopes to continue next year. Teaching and coaching is a lot to handle, but “I just wanted to try something totally different. I’ve been a gradehead for a while, and I was always intrigued by coaching,” Lesinski said. Her favorite thing about being a golf coach alongside being a teacher is meeting new people, especially freshmen girls that are not in her biology class. Lesinski is more productive in the morning and finds that waking up earlier is how she manages her workload while prioritizing family.
Lauryn Rauschenberger
Second grade assistant teacher
Upper School field hockey coach
Middle School girls basketball coach
Rauschenberger teaches as a second grade assistant from around 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. In the fall, high school field hockey starts at 4:30 p.m. and goes until 6:30 p.m. “Since I am an assistant teacher, I am able to get most of my work done during the school day,” Rauschenberger said. This is her second year working at Parker, and although teaching and coaching two very different activities may bring challenges, she loves each job for different reasons. “The hardest thing going from Lower School to Upper School is how to talk and behave around [the students],” Rauschenberger said. Second grade students tend to need more attention than high schoolers do, and it is easier to talk to high schoolers about life. “I love seeing both sides. To have such a big impact on the younger ones but to be able to have a more mature relationship with the high schoolers and do what I love with them.” When basketball season comes, since it is middle school, practices are shorter–usually starting at 3:45 p.m. for about an hour and a half, three to four days a week. However, games are later in the evening. “The switch from second grade to middle school is even more challenging because both groups are younger and require attention,” Rauschenberger said. Even when balancing the ages gets difficult, she loves the impact teaching has on her students and herself.
Ciarra Cunningham
Seventh grade assistant teacher
Middle School field hockey coach and girls soccer coach
Cunningham assists the seventh grade class and coaches Middle School field hockey and Middle School soccer. Field hockey morning practices start at 6:45 a.m. and last for an hour. Practices after school last an hour and a half. The soccer schedule is similar. “Being an assistant teacher can be different everyday,” Cunningham said. “I could be creative, use my organizational skills, or make new relationships.” As an assistant teacher, she is responsible for helping any of the seventh grade teachers. She may assist a history class and then next day she may be focused more on administrative work and emails. Sometimes she has to help plan events, such as County Fair. In those cases, she may have more work to do at home, but otherwise, most work will be done during the day. “If there are tasks that I didn’t get done during the day, I will either stay up a little later or wake up earlier depending on how I am feeling,” she said. “Going from ‘Ms. C’ to ‘Coach C’ is the most challenging because of how I may act differently,” she said. As a teacher, she has to be more direct with her instructions, but as a coach, she can be more silly and talkative while still being productive. Some of her best memories were from Middle School and the relationships she made with teachers and coaches.
