• Leah Fischer: I Always Wanted To Be a Teacher

    Former SHSD161 student now in her 15th year of teaching in the Summit Hill district 



    Leah Fischer always wanted to be a teacher.

    Growing up in Frankfort Square, the former Summit Hill School District 161 student would play school with teacher’s edition textbooks given to her by her dad’s girlfriend at the time, who was a teacher.

    “I had a little chalkboard, and I would set it up and be the teacher,” said Fischer. “I can honestly say that I always wanted to be a teacher.”

    “There was a brief hiatus when I wanted to be a marine biologist, but then I decided I would rather be a teacher and teach about marine biology,” laughed Fischer.

    Now entering her 15th year as a teacher in the Summit Hill district, the sixth-grade math teacher at Hilda Walker Intermediate School reflects on a career that has come full circle in many ways.

    “One thing I will always value is the community that makes up this district,” said Fischer. “This is home to me. I grew up here. I know the community. I support the community. To have influence in this capacity here means more to me than I can explain.”

    Fischer attended Arbury Hills School in Mokena for first through fourth grades before attending fifth grade at Summit Hill Junior High, then housed in what is currently known as the Mary Drew Administrative Center on Spruce Drive in Frankfort. At that time, Arbury Hills, Frankfort Square and Indian Trail were the only elementary schools in the district. Dr. Julian Rogus School, Hilda Walker Intermediate School and the new Summit Hill Junior High School on North Avenue were yet to be built.

    When Hilda Walker opened in 1996, Fischer was a member of the first sixth grade class to attend school there before returning to the junior high for seventh and eighth grades. She was also a member of the first graduating class from Lincoln-Way East High School after the Lincoln-Way central and east campuses were split into two separate four-year high schools in the early 2000s.

    “I certainly experienced my fair share of transitions amongst the schools, not only in this district, but at Lincoln-Way as well,” said Fischer. “But I truly had such a great experience growing up here. I had great friends. I had supportive teachers. I would say if I could take anything away from my experience, it would be the people.”

    One of the most influential people in Fischer’s life at that time was Christine Cialdella (now Veverka), her teacher for fifth and sixth grades.

    “My favorite teacher was Miss Cialdella,” recalls Fischer. “She was the one that always had the right things to say. She was always that caring, nurturing, but also sarcastic - appropriately sarcastic - person that just seemed to get along with everybody. She helped me get through a lot of tough times. She was very comforting in the sense that she was just there. She was always there.”

    “She is one of my best friends now,” added Fischer. “Of all the things I remember from being in her class, I will never forget the 'Box of Doom'. This was quietly placed on a student’s desk as a reminder to stop disruptive behavior, and in the box was an extra homework assignment. Luckily, you had the opportunity throughout the day to have the box removed.”

    “Leah was always respectful and smart - just an all-around great kid,” said Veverka, who no longer teaches and now works as an administrative assistant in the Foundation office at Joliet Junior College. “If the 'Box of Doom' ever landed on her desk, it didn’t stay there for long.”

    “I was lucky enough to have Leah in my class for two years in a row, and we just hit it off,” reflected Veverka. “And we just continued to keep in touch over the years. She used to babysit my kids, and now my girls babysit her kids. I just adore Leah. She enriches and blesses my life, and she’s like a big sister to my daughters. We have a beautiful friendship that has really blossomed over time. She’s like family now.”

    Now in her 15th year of teaching, to Fischer, it is still all about the relationships.

    "Teaching is about building the relationships with students that encourage them to want to learn. Building relationships and teaching them that it’s ok to make mistakes, it's ok to fail. At the end of the day, we’re all learning,” explained Fischer. “If this all came naturally and easily, then I would not have a purpose. And I had such influential teachers, so if anything, that’s what I want to be for my students.”

    Fischer, who has spent her entire career teaching at Hilda Walker, earned her bachelor’s degree in Education from Eastern Illinois University and her master’s degree in Education from Concordia University.