Chicago Blackhawks January 2023 Teacher of the Month

Future GoalsTM Program

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Chicago Blackhawks January 2023 Teacher of the Month

Name:

Karen Zaccaria

School:

St. William School

Classroom Team:


Tell us about yourself!

This is my 35 yr of teaching and I’m still passionate about teaching. I work at a wonderful Catholic school in Chicago. My family has been part of St. William School and parish for 100 years. The only subject I don’t teach is math. I wanted to be a teacher since I was in 2nd grade. Well, I really wanted to be the 1st baseman for the Cubs, but I followed my passion for helping others. I love that no 2 days are the same at work. Every day provides another opportunity to help others reach their potential. Adding new activities such as Everfi keeps things engaging for my kiddos. I spend on average, 12 hours a day on school-related activities, from my regular duties and volunteering for events happening at my school. I help other teachers with tech issues and help run the social media platforms for my school.

Who is your favorite NHL® player and why?

Tony Esposito–he was amazing. Looking at footage now and thinking wow, look at all the equipment changes that hockey has gone through since he played. Perfecting the butterfly technique=physics. His dedication to his craft and team is beyond words.

What is your favorite part of the Future Goals™program? How do you see STEM in the game of hockey?

The real life connection between sports and science is my favorite part. Students work through problems using STEM and scientific principals that can easily translate to real life situations.

If you played hockey, what position would you play and why?

Goalie–from Esposito, Glenn Hall (Mr. Goalie), Belfour, and Crawford. If I couldn’t play goalie, the defenseman. I’m not interested in scoring goals as I am protecting the net and defending.