Students did not fail Susan Leander’s social studies classes at York High School. She intervened with parents, counselors and worked with the student until the grade was raised.
“She gave many students a new lease on life. She would never give up on a kid, which makes her a very special teacher,” said Jim Jarvis, chairman of the social studies department.
Susan Leander, 39, of Elmhurst died Tuesday, May 7, in the home of her sister in South Portland, Maine, after a 13-month battle with colon cancer.
Ms. Leander’s family moved to Texas, New Jersey and California before settling in Wheaton. She was born in Elmhurst in 1962 and graduated from Wheaton-Warrenville High School in 1980. She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she received a bachelor’s degree in secondary education in 1985. The profession became her passion and her life.
She began her career at Urbana School District 116 teaching math and social studies in an alternative high school from 1985 to 1989. Ms. Leander, who was a literacy volunteer teaching English as a second language, decided to go one step further and teach English in China. She set off to the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou. For one year, she taught conversational English.
Upon her return, she settled in Elmhurst, where she lived for 12 years. She worked as a substitute teacher in school districts in DuPage County. In 1992, Ms. Leander took a position with York High School and taught sociology and global studies. In addition to her teaching, Ms. Leander sponsored the pompom squad and the Eco Club. She also organized fundraising events for world hunger through the school.
“I think what Susan did was try to help her students become more aware of the world outside their own environment,” said her sister, Marcia Leander Hadiaris. “For the kids that were privileged, she showed them how to be more sensitive to the world around them and for the kids who maybe needed a step up she would show them how to look beyond their world and see the possibilities that await them,” she said.
While fighting cancer, she continued to teach with the help of a substitute teacher. She finished her master’s degree from National-Louis University last year. She was last in the classroom two weeks ago.
“The students saw this, and it gave them a very important lesson in life because of the example she set in the last six months of teaching,” Jarvis said.
Other survivors include Ms. Leander’s parents, Ken and Jackie; two brothers, Mark and Scott; a niece and three nephews. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. Tuesday until time of a 5 p.m. funeral mass in Mary Queen of Heaven Church, 426 N. West St., Elmhurst.
