Kathleen Lojas has been a teacher for over 30 years. She first started her teaching career at S.E Gross Middle School in Brookfield, IL. And then later got asked to work at Riverside Brookfield Highschool. 

Because of COVID-19, the pandemic has made teaching a very difficult job. But, Lojas hasn’t given up. She believes that every student has their own story and she loves to challenge kids academically. Lojas is proud of what she has done, and the memories from school and her teaching career will stick forever. 

Lojas decided she wanted to retire around three years ago. Although she loves what she does, her teaching journey has come to an end. She hopes to keep her options open to get the most out of the coming years

“I am keeping my options open, I hope to do some volunteer work, and I hope to do some equity work,” Lojas said. 

COVID-19 has made her decision “easier.”

“The pandemic has made it easier for me to go because it’s very hard to teach this way, but it also makes it sad because we can’t have the same celebrations as we used to have due to COVID ,” said Lojas. 

Lojas works with many students. She loves creating teacher-student relationships to help guide them through the four years of high school. Lojas loves to see students progress in her classes. Not only does it make the student feel good, but it also creates a sense of satisfaction for the teacher knowing that they helped a student succeed. 

She is a special education teacher but has also taught English, social studies, consumer economics, health, and life skills And she worked as a basketball coach, special olympics coach. She also assisted drama and sponsored the minority empowerment club. 

After her retirement, she plans to travel more and do charity work for her church. She says that traveling to Maine with her family, Greece, Italy, and Belize is in the “cards”. Lojas is passionate about charity work. She hopes to do race equity work and economic equity work. Lojas also plans to continue to volunteer for food distributions. 

There are many mixed feelings about leaving. But all things come to an end. Lojas is excited to continue her life and to carry all the good memories with her.