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Maley enjoying double life as teacher, coach
Katie Maley works with Sam Kiddler on a Spanish lesson at Forest Hills Elementary School. Maley teaches Spanish during the day in Western Springs and coaches poms and badminton at Hinsdale Central. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
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Name: Katie Maley
Loves going to: Chicago White Sox games
Best ballpark food: hot dogs
Language would like to learn: Polish
Favorite TV shows: “Dexter,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
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Updated: October 8, 2012 7:26AM
WESTERN SPRINGS — Katie Maley leads a double life.
By day, the 2002 graduate of Lyons Township High School, teaches Spanish to 10 classes of children in the three elementary schools in Western Springs Elementary District 101: Field, Forest Hills, and Laidlaw.
And during the winter and spring, once the bell rings to signal the end of the school day, Maley heads west into Hinsdale. She doesn’t stop at a phone booth to change into a cape and turn into a superhero. But her mind set changes considerably on the way to Hinsdale Central, where she is the poms squad coach for basketball games during the winter and varsity badminton coach in the spring.
“I love all of it, and it is very different,” Maley said. “I was a little nervous when I first started teaching in District 101 because the elementary kids are younger than the kids I had taught before.”
This is Maley’s fourth year in District 101 after teaching Spanish for one year each at Hinsdale Central, while filling in for a teacher on maternity leave, and at St. Cletus.
Maley said she has enjoyed working with elementary-age children.
“The kids are so smart, and the parents are very supportive,” she said. “I originally thought I would want to teach junior high kids, but I really like the elementary kids because they are so excited to learn. The exposure at a young age to a language gets them excited.”
As much as she loves teaching elementary students, Maley also looks forward to her late afternoons, along with some evenings and weekends, with the high school students at Hinsdale Central.
“By the end of the school day, I’m ready for more mature conversation,” she said. “It is a different mind set, and it’s great for giving me a second wind.”
Maley was on the poms squad at LT for two years along with playing badminton and tennis while there. She also was a dancer throughout her days in high school and college.
“The girls involved with poms at Central are amazing,” she said. “I love working with them. It’s the best group I’ve ever seen.”
Maley took over as Central’s varsity badminton coach last spring after being involved with the lower levels for four years.
“My family all thinks I’m a trader,” she said of her coaching involvement at Central. “I root for my poms and badminton, but otherwise I root for LT. I’m a devil and a lion.”
