As students may have noticed throughout the halls, the school has new teachers for the 2024-2025 academic year. one particular area with a new teacher is the Social Studies department. Born and raised in New Lennox, Illinois, Mr. Witek is one of the new additions to the school this year. Mr. Witek is teaching AP United States History and Honors Modern World History.
“The idea of it being a more private and catholic school. “You tend to get better students here in terms of quality, and the school also has a really good reputation for academics and sports. It seemed like a good community to be a part of.” he said.
Mr. Witek is no rookie to the teaching game, as this year marks his 6th year in education. Mr. Witek is also going to be coaching the Track and Field team this year, as one of his fondest memories from his high school experience at Lincoln-Way Central was being a part of their Track and Fieldteam. Outside of school, Mr. Witek is a big fan of reading, grilling, college ball, and watching his favorite shows.
As experienced as he is, Mr. Witek says that the most challenging thing about teaching at Saint Viator so far is technology.
“There are a lot of new programs and it is a very technology heavy school and so learning all these new programs and getting a hand of everything [has been difficult]”he said.
However, the testing factors have certainly not outweighed the celebration. “[The most exciting part of this new experience here is] actually being able to teach. It turns out that when you are not yelling at people to get off of their phones every 20 seconds, it is more exciting to learn,” he said.
Mr. Witek says that the quality of the people here have exceeded his experiences.
“Everybody has been incredibly friendly and helpful, and the students across the board have been awesome, in terms of quality and behavior.” he stated.
Mr. Witek is quite noticeable with his colorful shirts. He hopes that students would ask him history or college football questions!