Teacher of the Week

Christy Gerst stepped out of the courtroom and into a classroom designed to look like one.

Science teacher Todd Katz started an endangered species program at Young.

Cassie Saunders has embraced a variety of challenges since joining Mother McAuley last year.

Third-grade teacher Angela Brito said, "If my kids need me, I’ll do more."

Paul Hartman's second-grade students speak a number of languages, like Urdu and Somali.

Wendy Rejman has inspired her students to "engage and persist" in art as well as in life.

"I'm just a big math nerd," middle school teacher Margot DiMuzio said.

Dexter Wilde, 25, works with students with disabilities and helps coach the academic decathlon team.

Emily Forrest-Mattfield has won thousands of dollars in grants to bring music into the arts curriculum.

Sharon Vinh knows how to keep her students engaged in science and math.

Vernell Slaughter once crunched numbers working at a bank but now breaks them down as a math teacher.

Beatrice Haney of James Ward Elementary School has been helping kids learn for decades.

Lydia Diaz has "unwavering commitment and dedication" to her students, the school's principal said.

Castellanos teacher Ashley Frantzen was awarded Best New Illinois Science Teacher of the Year in 2013.