Niles West hired three new math teachers for the 2024-25 school year. It is Chris Atsaves‘s first year teaching, while Kathleen Bressler has been teaching for about 24 years, and began part-time at West in January.
It is not common to have so many new teachers for one department, but with so many teachers leaving last year, Math Director Lucas Leavenworth faced the challenge of hiring multiple new math teachers.
“We have a number of teachers out for various reasons. We have one teacher who’s helping coach the new teachers and a few teachers helping take care of sick family members, so we needed to bring people in to make sure there are enough teachers for our students,” Leavenworth said.
Bressler was bound to pursue a career in education, given her family lineage of teachers.
“I started out in college in construction engineering and management. I did three years of a five-year program then had a typical college student summer and said ‘I need to change everything in my life!‘ I switched from engineering to education and transferred schools. I just could not get away from teaching since most of my family are teachers,” Bressler said.
Atsaves, on the other hand, always knew he wanted to teach.
“Yeah, I think ever since I was younger probably since middle school or high school, I knew I wanted to teach. I would find myself explaining all my answers to the class and all that stuff,” Atsaves said.
The newly hired educators were not only hired for their on-paper qualifications but also for their personalities that outshined other candidates.
“Each of [the teachers] had something really special about them. Each of them had different characteristics that they brought to our team. When I hire new teachers, I look for people that bring something new, so that we’re not all the same. I look for unique characteristics that make them special,” Leavenworth said.
Though Atsaves and Bressler do not share many traits, they both have the same goal for this school year.
“I definitely want to be the best teacher I could be. I want to create a safe and positive learning environment for my students to make sure I’m doing the best I can,” Atsaves said.
“I want to bring my A-game every day and do the best I can for every student, bringing whatever I can to contribute and enjoy my time and help others enjoy their time here too,” Bressler said.
When Atsaves and Bressler are not in school, they like to take part in a few different activities. Atsaves shared that he enjoys staying active, especially by playing basketball. He also plays a little guitar. Bressler can be found hanging out with her kids, and an ‘obnoxious Boston Terrier named Rosie’. She and her kids like to explore the city for new pizza and Italian ice spots, and also enjoy going on tours.
