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Mrs. Ham

Catholic Classroom Linda grew up in West Chicago, and attended and graduated from St. Mary's school! At that time, seven out of eight of the teachers were Catholic sisters of St. Joseph, and the classrooms all had more than forty children. There was definitely no room or opportunity for silly stuff. Linda was a student in the old school building when the "new school" was being built. She remembers that the anticipation to move into the new school was enormous for everyone. (In an interesting side note, her mother, Mary Kjeldsen, is also a graduate of St. Mary's, and her sister, Ramona Feltes is the oldest living alumus, as far as we know.)

Linda's high school years were spent at Glenbard West and she attended MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL, majoring in Psychology, minoring in English and French, and graduating with a BA degree. She also acquired her teaching certificate in French while at MacMurray.

Linda's first teaching position was in the Washington DC area teaching French for two years to grades 4, 5, and 6. The program was written to correspond with 20 minute closed circuit TV lessons. It was very well received by the students and she enjoyed it very much.

After returning to this area, Linda taught the 7th and 8th grade core curriculum at Monroe Jr. High, District 200 for 2 years. At that time "the core" was taught for a double period, incorporating English and Social Studies skills, writing, public speaking, and research. (Grammar, spelling and composition were separate subjects.) She left Monroe after the birth of her first daughter, Alexandria.

Her career took a right angle turn after the birth of her daughter, Margo who was born with a genetic condition called Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). Because this was considered one of the "orphan diseases" at that time, Linda became involved with the voluntary health agency for TSC, serving as a member of the Board, as Project Coordinator, and eventually as Executive Director. She also served as co-founder and coordinator of the TSC clinic at the University of Chicago for 11 years.

Linda returned to teaching in 2000, and really feels more excited about it than any earlier time in her teaching career. Now that her own children are grown, she has more time than ever to focus on the children in her classes. She finds the Social Studies curriculum to be the perfect fit for her. She approaches it as a vicarious vacation--as if she's traveling all around the world with a pack of kids who are just getting their first taste of their own possibilities. In fifth grade they are just starting to explore the Western Hemisphere, but by eighth grade they have traveled around the world and passed the US Constitution Test! "Now," Linda wonders, "how do you top that for an awesome job?"