Many new teachers were hired this year at Hinsdale Central to take on the growing student population and replace retired teachers. Among these was math teacher Elizabeth Fredlund, scheduled to teach Algebra and geometry this school year.

Fredlund may be new to this school, but she is not new to teaching. For the past four years, Fredlund has been teaching at Riverside Brookfield High School. Although she taught the same topics, she admitted that she will be facing new challenges. “It’s definitely going to be challenging to learn the building, along with learning the logistics,” said Fredlund.

Fredlund did not always know that her future was in teaching. In fact, she received an undergraduate degree in marketing from Benedictine University. When she began an internship in a business setting, she realized it wasn’t for her. After growing up with two teaching parents and seeing how much they loved their jobs, she decided to switch career fields and become a teacher. As for her choice of the math field, Fredlund said, “I hear a lot of teachers say they wanted to be a math teacher because of one that they had in school, but I remember one that wasn’t that great.” She decided that she wanted to turn a negative experience into a positive one.

Inspiring students may be one of her top priorities for the school year, and said she is excited that “the academic passion is great. There are so many people that seem eager to learn.” She said that this is one of the main that she noticed about Central, and has hope that her first year will be a successful one.

Although she is new at the school, Fredlund already feels comfortable in her new setting. “What I can say of the school from what I have seen so far is that it’s a collaborative approach, it really is.”