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Faculty Focus: Spanish Teacher Dee Megall



Spanish Teacher Mrs. Megall celebrated her 26th year at Fenwick in 2017-18, after migrating from Trinity H.S. in River Forest.




What is your educational background?


DM: I have a B.A. in Spanish from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, and an M.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from Loyola University in Chicago. I have also studied in Guadalajara, Mexico, through Arizona State University and took classes at the University of Madrid.


What did you do prior to becoming a teacher at FHS?


DM: I began my teaching career at Trinity High School in River Forest in 1970. I am a Trinity graduate and four years later I was back there teaching. I was on the faculty for six years until the birth of the first of our three sons. I stayed home raising the boys for 16 years. I was working on my Master’s degree when I started at FHS in 1992. I have taught the mothers of many of my Fenwick students due to my early years working at Trinity.


To what teams did you belong as a student?


DM: Trinity only had intramural volleyball and basketball teams when I was a student. I was on the volleyball team all four years. The game was completely different from what it is now. We just kept hitting the ball back and forth until someone missed. Only one girl in the school would spike the ball and we all just thought she was being rude!


What interests do you pursue outside of the classroom?


DM: I love to read. My next book is The Bridge at Andau, which is about the Hungarian Revolution. I am very interested in this topic due to family history. In 1956, when my husband was eight years old, his third cousin escaped from Hungary during the revolution and came over and lived with the Megalls from age 18 to 28. We just celebrated his 80th birthday, which was a wonderful family occasion. I also enjoy doing needlepoint and knitting in my spare time.


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Fenwick Faculty Focus: Alan Howell, Foreign Language Dept. Chair
	


	
	

		




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Alan Howell, the Chairman of the Foreign Language Department, is in his 34th year of teaching at Fenwick.


What is your education and background?


AH: I attended Kalamazoo College as an under-graduate and earned a major in Spanish language and literature and a minor in instrumental music. I spent my junior year in Spain living with a Spanish family and studying Spanish history, art and literature. I completed the requirements for a Michigan teaching license as part of my under-graduate program. After graduation, I returned to Spain and taught English to Spanish students for several months. I did my graduate degree at University of Michigan, where I was a teaching fellow and earned an MA degree in Hispanic language and literature.


What did you do prior to becoming a teacher at Fenwick?


AH: Before coming to Fenwick I taught junior high English and high school Spanish at Whiteford Agricultural School in Ottawa Lake, Michigan. When I moved to Chicago, I took a job at an elementary alternative school teaching all subjects. Following that experience, I spent three years at the Academy of Our Lady on the south side of Chicago. I began my years at Fenwick in the summer of 1983.


What are you currently reading for enjoyment?


AH: I am reading the following books for my personal enjoyment: Science and the Afterlife Experience, When Healing Becomes a Crime and Secret History of Extraterrestrials. 


What interests do you pursue outside of the classroom?


AH: My interests include gardening, watching classic films, reading and exercising.


To what teams and/or clubs did you belong as a student?


AH: As a student my main interest was band.  I played in the marching band, concert band and the jazz band. My instruments were the trumpet and baritone.  I was a member of the JETS club. I served as editor of the school newspaper one year. I wrote a weekly column about my high school’s events which appeared every Sunday in the Kalamazoo Gazette along with articles submitted from students of other area schools.


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Faculty Focus: October 2017
	


	
	

		
Alumna Samantha Carraher ’96 is in her 18th year teaching Spanish at Fenwick.


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What is your educational background?

SC: After finishing my elementary education at St. Giles in Oak Park, I had the honor of attending Fenwick as part of the first class of girls in school history. When I graduated from Fenwick, I went to the University of Dayton, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education with a concentration in Spanish. I also have my master’s degree in Teacher Leadership from Elmhurst College and had the opportunity to study in Spain (Segovia and Madrid) on two separate occasions.


What did you do prior to becoming a teacher at Fenwick?

SC: I actually began teaching at Fenwick immediately after graduating from Dayton in 2000.


What are you currently reading for enjoyment?


SC: After seeing Hamilton, I decided to read the biography about the title character to learn more about him and the impact he had on our nation’s development following the Revolutionary War.


What interests do you pursue outside of the classroom?


SC: I am an avid fan of the men’s basketball team from Dayton and the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs. (I’m pretty sure I heard an exasperated groan coming from the direction of Mr. Arellano’s classroom before I even put the period on that last sentence.) I also love gardening and musical theater. My husband and I have tried to get into a variety of shows on cable and Netflix. However, with a two-year-old at home, our television viewing consists primarily of “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Doc McStuffins” and “Peppa Pig.”


To what teams and/or clubs did you belong as a student?


SC: I played volleyball and basketball during my first two years at Fenwick, and Coach Power is still trying to recover from the experience. I was a member of Fenwick’s varsity softball team for four years and played for a traveling softball organization called the Windmills. I was also in the cast of the spring musical my sophomore year.


Which clubs/sports/activities do you run at Fenwick?


SC: I am a coach for both the freshman girls’ volleyball team and boys’ varsity volleyball team. I am also a moderator of the Friar Mentor tutoring program.


What quality/characteristic marks a Fenwick student?


SC: There is no shortage of superlatives to describe the quality and character of our students. They are dedicated learners who are incredibly intelligent and hard working. They also exhibit a genuine kindness, concern and compassion for others on a daily basis. I truly appreciate what outstanding people our kids are both in and out of the classroom.


When did you decide to become a teacher, and why did you choose this field?


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