Like many great scientists, Matt Gain got his start at a young age by tinkering with anything that he could get his hands on. While his parents may not have loved coming home to see him taking apart their telephone or stereo, it was through this that Gain started to find his love of science.

Inspired by his own teachers as a student, Gain decided to pursue teaching. He has spent the past 16 years teaching chemistry and physics at Geneva Middle School South. His unique style of teaching incorporates storytelling and characters to make his lessons interesting and memorable.

"I think what drove me to teaching versus working in a lab was the interactions with students," he said. "It's not that I'm just there to give them information. It's also that there is a deeper relationship that happens too that makes each day different and exciting."

You might think that an English class could be dry and boring, focusing on sentence-structure esoterica such as when to use an Oxford comma. But if you walk into Alice Froemling's freshman or sophomore English class, you see students engaged in a variety of activities that are anything but dull.

Froemling has been teaching English and Language Arts at St. Charles North High School for eight years. She is always looking for new ways to make English engaging, whether it be through writing prompts, scavenger hunts, or assignments based off her students' interests.

"I think it all comes back to the relationship with the students," Froemling said. "If I see a student with their head down or not engaged in the lesson, I make sure to touch base with them to talk about what's going on outside that might be affecting them in the classroom."

It is easy to think of a librarian as quiet person who sits behind a desk. But Bruce Fraser of West Aurora High School is living proof that this stereotype is anything but true.

Fraser has been a library information specialist at West Aurora High School for the past 24 years and is also the varsity tennis coach. On a typical day, Fraser can be found interacting with students and teachers, helping them navigate the library and the vast amounts of information it contains, while helping them with media literacy.

"Everything comes down to the student," Fraser said. "It comes down to showing them that you care about them not just academically, but individually. Each day we get the opportunity to show students the value of education and how it can help them improve their lives."

Since she was a little girl, Ivonne Serrano knew she wanted to be a teacher. She vividly remembers her kindergarten teacher and the way that teacher got her excited about learning.

Today, as a preschool teacher at O'Donnell Elementary School in East Aurora, all Serrano wants to do is pass on that excitement to future generations.

Serrano has been working at O'Donnell Elementary for the past seven years. Each day she walks into the building, she is driven to help her young students connect with one another and lay the foundation of their education.

"At the beginning of the year, we do a unit on family and talk about how we have a family at home and at school," Serrano said. "We talk about ways to be loving and caring to our families, and that helps build a strong connection with my students."

While students need physical exercise to keep their bodies healthy, they also need to find ways to exercise their brains. Mary Jensen uses music to help students in Batavia do exactly that.

Jensen has been the music teacher at Alice Gustafson Elementary School for 16 years. In her classroom, she gives students the opportunity to learn how to make music; creating sounds and rhythms that exercise their minds.

"When the students can feel that happy connection to school and a teacher, they are able to look back on the positive connection, and maybe it will help them later in their lives," she said.

Walk into Amy O'Herron's classroom, and you will see her talking with students about school and their personal lives. The way she forms these relationships seems like second nature, and any observer can tell she genuinely cares about her students.

O'Herron is one of the sixth-grade math teachers at Carpentersville Middle School. During her time at Carpentersville Middle School, she has been able to develop a strong rapport with her colleagues and students through class time and extracurriculars.

"Although the students often come with baggage, they develop a connection with us as teachers," she said. "We want to make sure that we can offer them a place where they feel like they are welcome and respected."

As a teacher, one thing you need to be aware of is that each student has a different learning style. Discovering the individual learning style of each student is one of Mike Schmidt's great strengths.

Schmidt has taught social studies at Burlington-Central High School for the past 26 years. He is a Burlington Rocket to the core and has been a member of the community since he was a high school student at Burlington-Central.

"When I teach, it's not just about what's in the book," he said. "I try to help students see that learning isn't just about education and standards, but about life lessons, as well."

As a school administrator, Suzanne Johnson has a lot on her plate. Each day, she walks into the district office determined to find new ways to support the students of U-46.

For the past four years, Johnson been working at U-46 as the assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. Before that, she was the principal at Bartlett High School.

"Our students are only going to have one April 3, 2017," she said on the day of our meeting. "So I think it's upon all of us to provide the best April 3 we can. All of those days add up in your education, and we want them all to be as special as possible."