Cash Registers, Costumes, and Chaos!

Long before slinging lessons and lunch detentions, some Wredling teachers were slinging towels and tacos.  Have you ever wondered where some of the teachers at our school got their start?  Turns out, they entered the workforce in a wide array of positions.  From fast-food kitchens to poolside locker rooms, these early gigs gave our faculty their first paychecks and their first tastes of responsibility (and income tax assessments).

Dodgeball, but with Tacos

PLTW teacher, Mr. Hensel, took his first job at Taco Bell, where he found himself more in the line of fire than behind the fryer. “The owner was crazy,” he says. “If she didn’t like how something was prepared, she’d throw it. Tacos, drinks, salsa—you name it, it flew.” One day, after all the managers quit and blocked the drive-thru with their cars, Hensel decided it was time to leave, too. “I quit that day because I figured if I was the only one who stayed, that made me next in line as a target for her one-sided food fight.”

Thrown out for Throwing Up?

Social Studies Teacher, Mrs. Dolan, began her career working at Target in West Dundee, but her employment didn’t last long. Scheduled to work on the infamous Black Friday, Dolan came down with severe food poisoning on Thanksgiving, even landing in the hospital. “My mom called in to tell them I was sick, but they fired me anyway,” she recalls.  Food poisoning and fired?—Black Friday stayed true to its name, remaining a bleak first-job memory for Dolan.

From Pet-Smart to Science-Smart

Science teacher, Mrs. Michaels, started out at Petsmart as a lead cashier but soon found herself in situations no one generally expects from a retail position. “For the grand opening, I had to wear a giant dog costume,” she remembers. But the job wasn’t all about ringing up pet supplies—Michaels mentioned there was a “sick room” for unsellable animals, and employees could take them home. “I’d bring home random animals like newts and mice. My mom wasn’t thrilled.”

Rising through the Ranks in Places that are Rank

School Principal, Mr. Loversky, had his first gig at the North Side Pool in Wheaton, working as a locker room attendant at age 12. It wasn’t glamorous. “People handed us their bags of clothes, and they’d smell awful during the summer,” he says. Fifteen years later, Loversky had worked his way up to head manager—proof that even the stinkiest jobs can lead to better things.  Then again, he now works with adolescent students daily—proof that even the stinkiest job can lead to better-paying, but equally malodorous jobs.

Um… Science Class Stranger Danger?

When asked about her first job, science teacher, Ms. Malhan confessed, “First job?  Funny story, this is my first job.  I’m really lucky the school district did not seem to put a lot of stock in fact-checking my resume and transcripts.”  “Can you believe they didn’t even call my ‘references’,” Malhan said, using the air quotes gesture.  “That was kind of concerning because I spent all that time practicing my best ‘busy-and-angry-businessman’ voice and wasted all that money on those two burner phones.”

As life lessons learned from first jobs slowly morphed into a life of lesson plans in their current jobs, Wredling teachers attained useful knowledge and endured unforgettable experiences. This journey from teenager to teacher wasn’t without its speedbumps—or in some cases, flying food—but these early roles clearly set the stage for the patience, humor, and resilience they bring to the classroom today.