Dawn Oler, NBCT
Teach to Inspire
Background
I believe my background is what allows me to connect so well with my students. I was raised in a lower middle class family with high school educated parents. I was taught to work hard and be compassionate. From an early age I took on responsibility and was driven to succeed. In high school I lost my motivation, as many of my students do, and I stumbled through high school without demonstrating my full potential.
I was fortunate to have many opportunities to expand my exposure to the extremes of society and life. I held a variety of low level jobs that led to mid level management positions by the time I was 20. Luck handed me a higher level management position that allowed me to not only gain valuable work skills but go back to school to pursue my dream since 7th grade of becoming a Home Economics teacher.
Fast forward two decades, and I am a Family and Consumer Sciences leader with nineteen years experience. I am passionate about recruiting, training and retaining teachers beginning in the high school classroom. I benefit from professional experiences within the high school environment and through state, national, and global organizations. I present on a variety of topics including leadership, teacher preparation and meeting the needs of diverse student populations.
I am currently a Family and Consumer Sciences educator and lead courses in culinary arts, independent living, consumer economics and a high school student teaching internship program at Hinsdale Central High School. I am President of the Illinois Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. My latest professional practice has involved the design of an honor’s level curriculum in a high school level Invitation to Teaching program and leading workshops in course development for teachers. My first authoring experience resulted in the publishing of the curricular workbook to accompany the Teaching text published by Goodheart-Willcox. During the 2019-20 school year I was fortunate to study the role of race in education at Syracuse University.
I enjoy hiking amongst the waterfalls in Upstate New York and biking along the Erie Canal Towpath. In addition, I garden which results in delicious homemade canned sauces each fall. I make my pie crust from lard I render myself and love sharing food with others. Many of my volunteer opportunities allow me to share my homemade foods. In addition, I enjoy restoring tombstones in old cemeteries as a way to honor those who came before us.
2023-2024 brings a new adventure in my professional journey as I am a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching Research participant to Finland. My research is centered around the Perception of Teaching as a Profession Among Finnish Adolescents. Please check out my blog entries tagged Fulbright for more on this journey.
Travel and Leisure
I love to travel and feel very fortunate to be able to expand my understanding of global cultures and societal traditions in this way. My travels have taken me from the devastation of Haiti after the earthquake to the beauty of the Swiss Alps to the townships of South Africa. According to recent calculations, I have experienced about 10% of the world, I have a lot to learn still!
In addition, I believe it is important to read a variety of books both in relation to my career and personal interests. Below are some of my favorites.
Caste
The Origins of Our Discontents
Striving to understand the formation of race in America and the role the unspoken caste system continues to play. I find that exploring how a system is created helps me figure out my role moving forward. Where can I make space for further inquiry and discussion? How can I propel the conversation forward? This text is an important foundation for a continued conversation and actions to move forward.
small great things
The difficulty of understanding another person's perspective is amplified when their life and experiences seem so different from your own. Small great things reminded me that we all grow through our unique perspectives, no one of more value than another. Through my role in education I find that being thoughtful about race relations is important to my own philosophy of leadership and teaching. This book is a must read for everyone.
Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed Down World
“One-third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.“
“Eighty percent of American families did not buy or read a book last year”
“51 percent of eighteen-to-twenty-five-year-olds said that becoming famous was their most important or second most important life goal”
“Read. Read until your eyes are sore. Then read some more”
POVERTY,
BY AMERICA
Currently Reading
The Other Wes Moore
“Try again. Fail again. Fail better." (quoted from Samuel Buckett)... Failing does not make us a failure. But not trying to do better, to be better, does make us fools.”
“Later in life I learned that the way many governors projected the numbers of beds they’d need for prison facilities was by examining the reading scores of third graders. Elected officials deduced that a strong percentage of kids reading below their grade level by third grade would be needing a secure place to stay when they got older.”
Life After Life
“What if we had a chance to do it again and again, until we finally did get it right? Wouldn't that be wonderful?”
“No point in thinking, you just have to get on with life. We only have one after all, we should try and do our best. We can never get it right, but we must try.”
“Life wasn't about becoming, was it? It was about being.”
PERSONAL INTERESTS
Everyone has a story that helps others understand how their perspective was formed, what drives them, and what's important in their lives. Here's a bit of mine.