Madame Natzke Says Au Revoir to Niles West
May 4, 2022
In the past 35 years, Leslie Natzke, more commonly known as Madame Natzke, has filled every classroom she’s taught in with enthusiasm. Whether it was all the way from Niger, Africa to Chicago Public Schools, or through the humble halls of Niles West, Madame Natzke has brought a welcoming environment as well as a safe space to all her students.
Although Madame Natzke has spent the majority of her teaching career at Niles West, her teaching journey began much earlier.
“My teaching journey began in Niger, West Africa where I taught English and learned French. After teaching in Niger, I taught at a kindergarten in Chicago. Then, I taught at a CPS high school for five years before coming to Niles West in 1997,” Madame Natzke said.
Madame Natzke is most known as a French teacher, but did you know that she didn’t teach French until 10 years ago?
“Most of my career was actually in ESL, ELL, and English, which was what I was hired for in D219. About 10 years ago I was given the opportunity to teach French. Since then, I have had great French-speaking colleagues who have supported me every step,” Madame Natzke said.
Madame Natzke has created many special and long lasting friendships with her colleagues at Niles West. “I definitely have life-long friends that I met at West. Some are dinner friends, some travel buddies and some are part of Expanding Lives,” Madame Natzke said.
Expanding Lives was created by Madame Natzke in 2007 and is “a nonprofit that provides education and leadership experiences to young women in West Africa and young people in the United States,” according to the nonprofit’s website.
One of Madame Natzke’s colleagues expressed how much of an amazing soul she is, as well as a pleasure to work with.
“Ms. Natzke has been a dear friend since I joined her in the ELL department in 1998. She has always modeled the utmost professionalism and dedication to her work and developed strong and caring relationships with her colleagues and students. We couldn’t have asked for a better example of how to work with high schoolers,” ELL teacher Brad Wilson said.
“Whether she was working with her Intro students on the correct spelling/spacing in the phrase ‘My pen is blue,’ demonstrating how to make crepes for her French classes or introducing us to Expanding Lives, she did it all with grace and great humor,” Wilson said.
Students have also expressed how much they love and care for Madame Natzke.
“Madame has made taking French such a wonderful experience for me. I’ve never dreaded going into French class because she makes the subject super exciting to learn. She is also such a wonderful teacher and a nice person,” sophomore Mariella Khoshaba said.
“Madame Natzke stands out as a teacher who cares about not only teaching her students, but connecting with them. And although French class with her is fun, she has made me fall in love with the language and want to learn it well,” senior Dharma Delahanty said.
“I think she’s nice, and she helps us keep engaged, so we can learn,” sophomore Ava Checke said.
Another student, sophomore Willa Gebhardt, said, “Madame Natzke is the sweetest and most compassionate teacher at Niles West. She is incredibly understanding and kind to her students, and I’m so happy I got to have her as my teacher.”
Considering she’s been a teacher for 35 years, Madame Natzke has definitely gathered some lifelong memories.
“I have a lot of good memories from D219, great days in class, incredible acts of kindness, hilarious stories. Some of my fondest memories are laughing with students, making crepes in class, seeing students grow. Watching Mr. Wilson play practical jokes on colleagues also ranks high (I never participated),” Madame Natzke said.
As for her retirement, Madame Natzke has much planned. “I will be working a lot on growing my not-for-profit, Expanding Lives. I’m also really into keeping bees, so I’ll be adding more hives to contain more bees. Aside from bee keeping, I plan on spending a few months overseas every year. But my first trip is for some art history classes in Norway. I was an exchange student there in high school, so I am really looking forward to seeing my friends and host family,” Madame Natzke said.
Before Natzke leaves, she has some wishes that she hopes will be seen through. “I hope that D219 students will continue to be involved with the girls from Africa from Expanding Lives, and I hope to stay in touch with students to see how they make the world better.”
