As students, staff, and faculty came back to school this year, there was a new freshmen class as well as several new faces among the faculty and staff. Ms. Chan is the new art teacher at Regina Dominican.
This woman has led a dynamic life. She attended elementary and junior high at Oscar Mayer Magnet School on the north side of Chicago. Her high school career was spent at St. Ignatius College Prep.
Her art career continued after high school as she went to DePaul University earning her bachelor’s in Arts Education. Chan said, “I’ve been an artist since I was five.”
Chan took her college education very seriously. She said, “Since I took two years between my high school schooling and college, I already had friends and a relationship. I didn’t party or anything like that.”
Regina is not her first time teaching. She has been teaching for 11 years at various high schools in the Chicago area. Her first year teaching was at DePaul College Prep for one year,
at Oak Park-River Forest High School nine years at Lincoln Park High School in downtown Chicago.
It didn’t take her long to grow more familiar with the Regina community and realize how much he loved the community here. “The students are so engaged here. It’s a lot different from teaching at a co-ed school,” Chan said.
Chan also appreciates that the students at Regina want to learn more about art rather than being forced into an art class they don’t like. Chan is also happy that Regina is close to her home rather than when she taught at her previous schools as those commutes involved driving into the city.
She also has many hobbies. Over the years, she has decorated her house with her artistic abilities to transform her home into a fun decorating theme, such as a gingerbread house on Christmas and a haunted wonderland on Halloween. In addition, she enjoys gardening, cooking, reading, attending her two little boys’ soccer games, and working on other art projects. Recently, she has been spending her time outside of school working on a stained glass project.
Mrs. Chan knows that she will continue to thrive in her teaching career at Regina and engage with the students through art.