Beyond the Bell
A college-and-career counseling podcast designed to provide students with tools and tips to look beyond the bell of their high schools into their futures (be it, college, careers, trade schools, or gap years) where bells do not exist. Beyond the Bell is hosted by Evelyn Lauer, who has worked in education for nearly 25 years, serving primarily as a high school English teacher, but also assuming roles as an instructional coach, college writing instructor, workshop leader, and journalism/media advisor. Lauer is also currently a graduate student at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago where she is studying school counseling. She is a mother to two sons, who are in 10th and 7th grade. She also serves on the board of Friends of Amundsen High School. Topics discussed will include: college admissions, college essays, trade schools, gap years, finding one’s passions and future careers.
Lauer's work has been published in The Huffington Post, Education Week, The English Journal, Sentence, and elsewhere. She served as the PR/Publications director for the Journalism Education Association for six years and is currently serving that organization as a mentor teacher. BTB was highlighted in the New York Times Education Briefing during the pandemic. Episodes from 2020-2022 are about teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. They include interviews with educators from across the United States about their experiences teaching remote, hybrid, and in-person during the pandemic.
Beyond the Bell
Mothers who Teach Roundtable
Host Evelyn Lauer talks with four educators who are also mothers of young children and asks the age-old question: How do you do it all? The group chats about the toll the pandemic has had on working moms, the insanity of most days, and how to balance teaching and grading and parenting -- and doing the dishes!
Julia Kapelnikova is an English teacher and instructional coach at Highland Park High School. She lives in Chicago with her son who is just over 2, her husband, and dog.
Rachel Gross has been teaching high school English in Skokie for 16 years. In addition to teaching, she helps advise the school newspaper and has written the district's teachers' union newsletter. Rachel also lives in Skokie with her spouse and two children.
Jessica Pritzker (@jessicapritzker) is a science teacher, former administrator, mother, and life enthusiast. She’s taught for 18 years in Argentina and in two high schools in the Chicago suburbs and still enjoys learning daily whether it be from her peers, students, or the world around her.
Lia Sosa has been a grateful member of the Niles West English department for fifteen years after earning Masters degrees in both English and reading. Together with her husband who teaches math for Chicago Public Schools, she has struggled to both do her own job all the while caring for her two young daughters who are seven and three years old. She enjoys cooking and baking, spending time in her yard with a book, traveling out West, and a cup of Earl Gray that helps her find a moment of peace.
To connect with host Evelyn Lauer, please follow her on Twitter at @evelynalauer.