Kathryn Olson, Home Economics teacher, is hanging up her apron and closing her lesson planner this spring when she retires from a 35 year teaching career.
Olson has been teaching at LZHS for ten years. She had previously taught at one other high school and taught at various middle schools in the area.
“When the opening came up here, I just couldn’t resist going back to high school,” Olson said.
She graduated from Illinois State University with a double major in Home Economics and French. Olson then went on to University of Illinois for her masters in vocational and technical education.
“I’ve wanted to teach since I was in grade school. When other girls were playing house, I’d be playing school,” Olson said. “Basically, I just love to read and I love to learn.”
After teaching for many years, Olson realizes her favorite time is when she sees the light bulb go on and she can see her students really understand and relate to the subject matter she is teaching.
“When you can make learning meaningful and relevant, and actually see how it pertains to them, when you can see it on their faces,” Olson said. “We’re teaching them skills that they are going to need, like cooking and being creative with it so that maybe they can go beyond that standard recipe and use their own creativity and improvise. If they mess up, the consequences are instant, and they immediately go over what went wrong.”
Over her years at LZHS, Olson has taught Creative Cooking, the Fashion classes, Home Economics I, and her favorite, Adult Living.
“I exuberate in adult living. It is my total joy. There is so much personal growth by the students, they discover their values during our small group discussions,” Olson said. “We cover a variety of topics and you can see how the material is just so relevant to what they are going through. They thrive in it.”
When she retires, Olson says she will miss her students, but she hopes the withdrawal symptoms are not too severe. For a while, she says, she may feel as if a rug has been pulled out from under her because she has gotten used to the way her life has been the last 35 years.
“I’m like a workaholic; from 7 until 11, it’s almost all school work. I have a big list of things to do, like redecorating and repainting, things that I haven’t had time to do while teaching and raising my family,” Olson said. “It’s great because now my husband and I can travel during another season other than summer. It’ll be nice to maybe go out west, to maybe Arizona and the Grand Canyon when it’s not 100 degrees outside.”
Olson would also like to get back to participating in Junior Women’s Club and functions at her church. When she took a leave of absence to raise her three children, she became very involved with it, but now she doesn’t have the time to be on committees or even participate.
Olson also likes to sew in the free time she has. She learned how when she was around seven years old and has been sewing ever since
“I’m always happy when I’m sewing,” Olson said. “My sewing skills really got me in the door at ISU. I designed the pattern and made my wedding dress when I was in college. I did make some of my kids’ clothing and Halloween costumes; most times I could just drape and make the costumes without using a pattern. It’s definitely my forte or joie de vie, which is French for joy of life.”
Olson is still an avid sewer, she and her daughter have worked together on many projects over the years, it is truly something they enjoying doing together.
Her sewing skills have also helped Olson to become a successful Fashion teacher at Lake Zurich; she has been doing it for the past two years and enjoys teaching kids what she loves best.
Olson has been a teacher for her entire career and she has enjoyed it immensely. After having the opportunity to be a teacher and impacting on the lives of hundreds of kids, Olson feels ready to experience the next pattern of her life.