The first thing you notice as you walk through the Lit Center isn’t the bustling atmosphere of tutoring sessions between students and teachers or the bookshelves spread across the room. Seated at the front desk is Niles West Lit Center Assistant Christina Harisiadis, or Ms. H, who offers a warm welcome to everyone who walks in.
Before coming to West, she earned a Master’s degree in Communication from the University of Minnesota. After graduating, she felt burnt out and unsure of what she wanted to do. She moved back home and worked in various temporary positions to build her experience. While doing so, Social Studies teacher Christina Kokoris offered her a job opening at West.
“I actually grew up with Ms. Kokoris and she told me about the opening of student activities,” Harisiadis said. “It sounded really interesting and really exciting, so I applied and I started a month later.”
Harisiadis expressed how much she loves working with the students, being a club sponsor for the Filipino Club and being part of the school ecosystem. Kokoris reflects on their connection, which led to Harisiadis joining the Lit Center.
“We grew up doing Greek dancing together and she seems like a nice girl in my Greek dance,” Kokoris said. “ I had run into her at a social event and she was telling me about how she was looking for work and I saw there was a posting for an assistant student department.”
Kokoris shares how it was her mom’s idea to reach out to Harisiadis and speak to Ms. Lucci about how great she is.
“She worked really hard and did a really good job, that’s why she was able to stay in the Lit Center,” Kokoris said. “Even the short time when she was in the student activities office, there were so many students who were really drawn to her.”
One of the students, Senior Elani Hernandez, a peer tutor, expresses the significant impact Harisiadis made during her time at the Lit Center.
“Ms. H has definitely shown a lot of respect to [the] Lit Center and I feel like she’s always making sure that the tutors get what they need,” Hernandez said. “She improved not only my, but also other tutors’ ability to communicate with tutees and maintaining a level of professionalism.”
Another student, senior Jacob Perkins, shares his thoughts and experiences with Harisiadis.
“She is a great student assistant and helps plenty of people every day,” Perkins said. “She puts effort and care into her job and actually makes it seem like she likes helping students.”
As Harisiadis transitions to Niles North with her new position as the executive assistant in the math department, she will bring her work experience and connections from her time at West.
“I’ve definitely learned from my time here is keeping your humour,” Harisiadis said. “Life is really long, but if you can find something to laugh about or find a silver lining in something, it makes a world of difference.”
