It’s a Wednesday in mid August and it looks like someone’s running a garage sale. An impressive array of books, trinkets and posters of dead authors line the fourth floor hallway. A stuffed teddy bear sits defeated, upside down on a cardboard box. As teachers walk by, marveling at the clutter that’s outside former English teacher Bonnie Seebold’s room, a woman in a denim dress invites them to look for themselves and take anything they’d like.

The woman is new English teacher Alicia Abood, who will be replacing newly retired Seebold. 

Before she was emptying out skulls and fake flowers from her future classroom, Abood was teaching English at Vernon Hills High School. There, she taught classes of 25-30 students. Smaller classes are something she will be looking forward to this year. “Especially with english,” Abood said, “when you are trying to have real conversations with students about their writing and really look at their writing and give timely feedback, I think that class size is so important. It’s non negotiable.”

Abood said she’s always had Parker on her “radar” ever since moving to Chicago–– so when she was checking out schools’ websites, her computer naturally went to Parker’s. “I was just poking around at the websites and one day went to Parker, and saw that there was an opening,” Abood said. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to go for this.’”

Abood’s love of teaching and writing first grew as an undergraduate at Hope College. During a pivotal poetry “May Term,” where students stay an extra month and dive deep into a particular subject, Abood was introduced to the power of teaching. “I saw the power of a really rich and transformative educational experience,” Abood said. “And then I was able to read poetry and talk about poetry in a way that I had never been able to before.

Abood’s love of writing stayed with her. After teaching in the suburbs of Denver, she attended graduate school for creative writing. “Her creative writing experience I think will be a real gift to the department because it has been a long time since we have had someone to do a creative writing class,” former English Department Co-Chair Theresa Collins said. “That is one thing that definitely distinguished her from some of the other finalists.”

Collins, along with the rest of the hiring team, went into interviews looking for particular characteristics. “We look for people who do a lot of reading on their own,” Collins said. “We love people who have curiosity, who are dedicated to working on developing themselves professionally as lifelong learners.”

Collins was impressed with Abood. “She listens to understand and makes connections,” Collins said. “She has a great curiosity about her. And at the same time it was really clear to me that she is a veteran, an experienced teacher.”

At Vernon Hills High School, Abood was heavily involved in student extracurriculars. She was the co-advisor to the literary magazine, the National Honor Society, Sexuality and Gender Acceptance (SAGA), and even helped out with their business club Deca. “ Deca was so out of my repretriore, but it got me involved and gave me some fun experiences with students out of the classroom,” Abood said.

Abood is going into Parker’s club scene with the same mindset. “I’m kind of just waiting to see, ‘Where’s the need? Where’s the availability?’” Abood said. 

Student Interview and Recommendation Board (SIRB) member Olivia Hanley remembers Abood from their interview. “She seemed really creative and ready to get involved in the Parker community,” Hanley said.

This year Abood will be teaching Shakespeare, Writer’s Studio, and Reading and Writing Across the Genres. As she gets ready for her classes, she acknowledges the challenges and rewards of teaching. “No matter what school you are at, teaching hard work,” Abood said. “But I find that I also learn a lot in the process. I feel really lucky that I get to come to a school each day and gain insight from students.”

As Abood’s time at Parker begins, she is looking forward to the community she sensed during her interview day. “I’m excited to be at a place where it’s like, ‘We are all in this together. We are learning together, we are growing together,’” Abood said.