As a teacher, traveler and now resident of Calumet Trace, Nancy has always found joy in discovering something new—and sharing those experiences with the people around her.
Nancy’s path into teaching began when her youngest child started school. Wanting to stay involved, she began teaching preschool.
“I wanted to be involved,” Nancy says. “So, I taught preschool.”
What she remembers most fondly about those years isn’t necessarily a particular lesson or classroom moment. Instead, it’s the stories her young students would spontaneously share.
“They would tell you about their home life. You don’t ask for it—they just tell it,” she says. “They made me laugh.”
That same curiosity about the world also sparked Nancy’s love of travel.
As a child, she remembers hearing about different places and becoming fascinated by the idea of seeing them for herself. One summer, a visit to Northern Illinois opened her eyes to how different life could be just a few hours away from home.
Her uncle was a school principal, and during the summer, Nancy would accompany him to school. While there, she encountered something she had never seen before: sap being collected from a tree.
Years later, she still remembers the experience—and the humorous story she told about it. When her teacher asked the class to write about something different they had done over the summer, Nancy wrote about seeing sap collected from a tree. Her teacher was skeptical.
“She said, ‘Well, neither did I. I made the whole thing up! I have never told anyone that!’” Nancy recalls with a laugh.
Nancy’s curiosity eventually took her much farther than Northern Illinois. Of all the places she has visited, Israel holds a particularly special place in her heart. She traveled there three times—in 2011, 2013 and 2018.
One of her favorite memories was seeing ancient scrolls and learning more about their significance.
“The scrolls meant so much to the people,” Nancy says. “They write from right to left and read the same way.”
Today, Nancy continues to find opportunities to learn, connect and make memories at Calumet Trace. She especially enjoys the community’s music and Bible studies, but one of her favorite parts of life at Calumet Trace is something even simpler: the friendships she has made.
“I enjoy most of the music, and the Bible studies. And making friends,” she says.
When she reflects on her time at Calumet Trace, Nancy says it is the memories of the people she has met along the way that mean the most.
“The memories that I have of all the different people that have been here,” she says.
From a preschool classroom to a journey across the world, Nancy’s life has been shaped by a willingness to learn, explore and connect with others. Today, those same qualities continue to make her an important part of the Calumet Trace community.
