Although it was summer break, Suzanne Zettle couldn’t stay out of the classroom. The 4th-grade teacher from Patterson Elementary School took part in a Fermilab course with the hopes of bringing what she learned back to her students.
“Fermilab’s mission is to solve the mysteries of matter, energy, space and time — which sounds pretty ambitious — so I figured I needed to see that,” Zettle said. “We got to tour the facilities, talk to scientists and go down in the tunnels where they send beams of neutrinos to a detector in Minnesota.”
Zettle enrolled in the course in hopes of finding exciting new ideas for teaching science, particularly waves, motion and energy.
“We don’t do a lot of particle acceleration in 4th grade, but they had some great lessons with magnets, electricity, heat and sound waves,” Zettle said. “Kids love science, they love hands-on experiments and they love to investigate. I have some great ideas to take back to my classroom.”
She plans a field trip to Fermilab that she expects will be a thrill for her students.
We sat down with her to learn more.
What do you teach and where? I teach 4th grade at Patterson Elementary School, 3731 Lawrence Drive, Naperville.
How long have you been teaching? I’ve been teaching for 15 years, 14 of them in Indian Prairie District 204 and the last 10 at Patterson.
Where did you earn your degree? I’m a career-changer. I got my bachelor’s degree in journalism at Southern Illinois University and my master’s in education from National Louis University. After my newspaper career, I was a stay-at-home mom, and then went back to work as a teaching assistant when my kids started school. That’s when I knew I wanted to teach.
Did you have a least favorite class when you were a student? I hated second grade! My teacher prided herself on forcing all left-handers to use the “correct” hand; she thought we were devil spawn or something. I was incorrigible and she never stopped taking the pencil out of my hand all year. I was miserable. I might have been the only left-hander she ever sent to third grade.
What’s the best advice a fellow teacher gave you? When I was a teaching assistant, and mulling over going back to school for my master’s in teaching, I was moaning to a teacher friend that it would take two whole years, and I’d be 45 when I finished. She said, “Well, how old will you be in two years if you don’t go back to school?” Obvious, right?
What is a perfect day off? (Being at) a beach or the mountains.
What was your most embarrassing moment in the classroom? Let’s just agree that black and navy look very similar early in the morning.
What have you learned from your students? Never stop wondering or asking questions. Never.
What is a big misconception about teaching? A lot of people think teachers have these really great work hours, but just about every teacher I know works early, works late and takes work home almost every night and weekend. I was always that mom grading papers at my son’s baseball games.
Favorite book or movie? My favorite book and movie is “Pride and Prejudice.” I just read “Dubliners” by James Joyce (which) I think I started it in college. I love fantasy and adventure and Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Lord of the Rings and Greek mythology. I loved the new Tolkien movie.
Three words that best describe you: Curious, hopeful and interested.
Jane Donahue is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
Is there a Naperville teacher you’d like to nominate for a Teacher Feature profile? Email your suggestion to ksorensen@tribpub.com.
