Veteran Oswego teacher, instructional coach has grown with the district over 30 years

Oswego School District 308 veteran teacher and instructional coach Joan Mundsinger has literally seen District 308 grow in her time with the district.

This year marks her 30th with the district.

“When I started, there were only three elementary schools,” said Mundsinger, who grew up in Oswego.

The district now has 13 elementary schools. Before becoming a teacher in District 308, she student taught at Yorkville School District 115.

Her first teaching job with District 308 was fifth grade at East View School.

East View is now a public therapeutic day school.

“It was great,” Mundsinger said in talking about the experience. “At the time, our superintendent was Karl Plank. Dr. Plank used to come down and play trivia with my kids. That was really cool to be part of that environment. And the kids really got to know him a little bit, so that was fun.”

Teaching runs her family. Her mom is a retired teacher and administrator who had taught in District 308.

“When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time in her room,” Mundsinger said. “I’d help her get ready in the summer. If I had a day off from school, I’d go help her in her classroom.”

From an early age, Mundsinger knew that she wanted to be a teacher.

“I started out playing school in my basement when I was little,” she said. “My mom would bring home old workbooks and stuff. And I had a little chalkboard that was mounted on the wall. And I would play school. I was probably like seven or eight years old.”

Seeing her mother work with students provided further inspiration for Mundsinger to want to become a teacher.

“There was a lot of, I would say ‘fun,’ in her classroom atmosphere,” she said. “There was a lot of spontaneity. I think that really inspired me, just watching her and seeing all the things that she did with her students at the time.”

Her husband, Drew Mundsinger, is the library media director at Oswego High School. The couple lives in Oswego.

Joan Mundsinger currently is a K-5 instructional coach at Fox Chase Elementary School and helps other teachers at the school with their needs.

For example, the district has a new English Language Arts curriculum this school year, which focuses on developing students’ abilities in reading, writing, speaking and listening.

“There was a lot of professional development that we did at the beginning of the year with that,” Mundsinger said. “I’ve been at each grade level teaching parts of that curriculum, so I get to learn it better. ... The beginning of the year, that’s how I spent a lot of my time.”

Her philosophy is very student-based. Teachers will sometimes sit down with her and talk to her about a student struggling in a particular area.

“We come up with a plan together what we want to do to try and turn that around,” Mundsinger said. “And we implement that plan. Then, after about a five- or six-week cycle, we look at the data to see if there’s been a shift with the kids. I primarily work with the teachers within their classrooms.”

Jeff Rainaldi has been principal at Fox Chase for two years. But he has known Mundsinger for about 15 years.

“We worked together and were both teachers together,” Rainaldi said. “We worked at Grande Park Elementary School together. She was a third/fourth grade teacher and I was a fourth grade teacher. Getting to work with her again has been pretty awesome.”

Rainaldi said she brings compassion to her job every day.

“Her number one goal is to help students meet their potential and exceed their potential,” he said. “I think she comes in every day with that philosophy, wanting to help all the students. She’s an instructional coach, so she has the unique opportunity to not only work directly with students, but work with teachers and help them be the best that they can be.”

District 308 recently started a residency program to provide opportunities for individuals to teach in the district while simultaneously furthering their own education through classes at Aurora University. Mundsinger works directly with the two resident teachers at Fox Chase.

“She is that other layer of mentoring,” Rainaldi said.

As part of her long career with the district, Mundsinger was on the staff at District 308’s Old Post Elementary School when it first opened in 1997.

“That’s probably my best memory of teaching, opening a building and seeing the kids come in that first day, when there’s been no kids in the building,” she said. “And all of a sudden everybody’s coming in.”

After 30 years in education, what keeps Mundsinger going is making sure the needs of the students are being met.

“One of my favorite things about the position I’m in now is that I see the kids come in as kindergartners and I get to see them all the way through fifth grade,” she said. “It’s really cool to be able to have some really good relationships with some students. I’m not necessarily their teacher right now, but I may be in their room, in and out, or they may catch me in the hallway. So that’s really why I do it.”