PEORIA MAGAZINE August 2022

2 0 S O M E T H I N G

20-SOMETHING TEACHERS LEARN THE FINE ART OF BALANCE Caffeine and the support of colleagues help

BY CECE HILL

T o be honest, it’s a lot of caffeine.” That’s what Pekin-based preschool teacher Kat ie Daniels said when asked how she balances being in her 20s with maintaining her personal and social life and working a job that often requires 50 hours or more a week. It was a common refrain among 20-something educators. Balance can be a high hurdle, one that can be addressed by finishing work at school and leaving the laptops behind, for example, or by just hanging out with fellow teachers Sydney Young, teacher at Morton High School

Katie Daniels, teacher at Pekin-preschool

Leah Daugherty, teacher at Peoria Notre Dame High School

who understand and empathize with the workload and schedule. It’s no secret that being a teacher is no joke. A 2018 study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania found that 44% of private- and public-school teachers leave the professionwithin the first five years, giving new teachers the highest attrition rate among all other educator age brackets. An EducationWeek study, meanwhile, reported that 92% of teachers believe their job is more stressful now than it was before the pandemic, and that they

are spending an average of 30 hours plus a week on instructional planning alone. Entering the workforce is never easy, but for new teachers, it’s more difficult than ever. That hasn’t deterred these young educators. They’ve decided to teach, not because it’s easy, but because they love it. Daniels and two other teachers, Sydney Young and LeahDaugherty, who work inMorton and Peoria, respectively, all exhibit a sense of joy regarding their careers. They are resilient, dedicated

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56 AUGUST 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE