Louis Kotvis is in his first year on the job as Skokie/Morton Grove School District 69’s instructional STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) coach after working in the district for three years.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I worked at Didier Farms when I was 14 trying to save up money for a car. ‘Trash and wagons’ was the title of my job and that’s what I did. I picked up trash and I moved wagons.
Q: What did you do before you came to District 69?
A: I was a teacher in Oswego for two years and before that I worked for a nonprofit science company called In Search of Genius. It’s a company that teaches brain science curriculum into elementary schools that can’t afford all the tangible things required for science.
Q: What did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I actually wanted to be a space engineer. I wanted to work for NASA.
Q: What is an interesting factoid about yourself?
A: I have not had a sweet in 13 years. About 13 years ago, I went on a trip and I saw pictures of myself and I was not happy with the way they looked and I said I got to cut something out.
Q: Words of wisdom?
A: One thing my dad always said when I was younger is don’t always say you’re sorry. Just say you won’t do it again. I know that’s something a lot of kids could learn. He also said put in the extra 30 seconds because that can mean the difference.
Q: Pets?
A: Unfortunately, we just put my dog to sleep Saturday. Layla was 14 and she was a Rat Terrier. She was named after the song.
Q: A movie you’d recommend?
A: I just recently saw “Hidden Figures” and I thought it was incredible. I thought it was a movie every single child should see before the age of 10.
Q: What book are you currently reading and what book would you like to read next?
A: I’m reading two different books right now. One is called “The Third Wave.” It’s written by the creator of AOL and it’s all about the progress of the Internet. The other one I’m reading is called “Seinfeldia” and it’s all about “Seinfeld.”
