A junior at MCHS walks into their first day of AP Environmental Science classroom expecting to see Kaley Young. As they take a seat, they see an unfamiliar face walking in and sitting behind the teacher’s desk. Students around the room are whispering the same question, “who is that?”

Raquel Hess started as a long-term sub at MCHS for Young. She taught four periods of AP environmental science and one period of chemistry. After those two months of teaching for Young, she transitioned into an instructional assistant and is hopefully going to cover as a long-term sub before becoming a full-time teacher.

“Teaching at MCHS makes me feel like I’m at home because I grew up going to Crystal Lake South,” Hess says. “I truly believe that there are a lot of similarities between the two schools.”

While Hess wants to become a teacher and take over Steve Levon’s classes as well as getting paid as a full time teacher, there have been some issues with documentation transferring. 

“Since I pursued my teaching license through a school located in a different state,” Hess says. “The board of education from both Utah and Illinois need to approve that all teacher requirements were completed and that there are any additional steps needed to take based on varying state education requirements.”

It’s also important that she gets her teaching license figured out because soon, she will be needing her own insurance and long-term substitutes don’t receive insurance benefits. 

“The community McHenry has, along with the environment,” Hess says. “It’s very homey to me and I feel comfortable wherever I go. Everyone here is so nice and adaptable so I’ve had no issues with asking any questions or for help.”

According to Elevate K12, “Public and private schools hire roughly 600,000 substitute teachers each year to fill in for regular teachers.” 

“I consider a great substitute teacher as someone who makes the effort to connect with the students in the right way and shows that they’re not just a teacher,” junior Bianca Mangalindan says.

Having young teachers like Hess means that they understand the student body and can relate to students, along with helping them with whatever they’re going through. 

“I hope I have made a good impact,” Hess says. “I never want to be the reason someone’s having a bad day or ruin someone’s good day.”

“[Hess] has made my days better,” Mangalindan says. “She’s one of the best teachers I’ve had.” 

Being a new teacher isn’t easy, especially if the school and community are unfamiliar with you. Making those relationships with students in such a short period of time can make all the difference. 

“She’s always been there for me with school work and my personal life as well,” Mangalindan says. “She’s also made such an impact on my life and I believe she can make an impact on the school.”