Jacobs High School teacher thrives on building students’ confidence and lasting relationships

Kristin Fries never experiences the “Sunday night dread” ahead of school restarting Monday morning, because she’s always looking forward to seeing her students the next day at Jacobs High School in Algonquin, she said.

She wants to know what they did over the weekend, check in on any personal stresses and help them be the most successful students possible.

“I love building those relationships,” said Fries, 46, of Lake in the Hills. “I feel I’m one of their biggest cheerleaders. The confidence they gain in realizing their potential is the best part of my job.”

Fries, a married mother of two teenagers, has been a teacher for 22 years. For the past 10 years, she has taught at Jacobs. She teaches honors U.S history and sociology and is an instructor for senior Advancement Via Individual Determination classes.

AVID classes are electives that push students to meet their academic potential by taking harder classes and provide academic and organizational guidance.

“The AVID program is like an inclusive family where everybody feels comfortable with everybody,” Fries said. “We put our heart and soul to be with those kids, and then it is so rewarding to see them succeed.”

AVID teachers help students develop studying and note taking skills, learn to overcome obstacles, decide what they want to do after high school and create a plan for their future. Fries has helped students prepare for job interviews and write college essays.

AVID tutor Kelly Kalscheur said Fries “thinks outside the box” when it comes to building relationships with her students.

“Kristin Fries is above and beyond a regular classroom teacher,” Kalscheur said. “Many lessons Fries teaches in her AVID class are life lessons that will benefit the students for years to come. She is organized and purposeful, all the while having fun in the class. Her cheerful and positive disposition is apparent as soon as she enters the room.”

Students maintain relationships with Fries long after they graduate high school, often visiting the classroom, texting her and even Zooming in to class, Kalscheur said. One former student visited Fries virtually from Rome.

“She impacts the lives of students and they share a mutual respect for each other,” Kalscheur said. “It’s fun to watch her do her thing. It’s teacher magic at its very best.”

Fries said she was raised by a single mom in Hoffman Estates who always instilled in her that she was bright and had a “big future ahead,” but she didn’t know what that was.

Like many of her AVID students, Fries’ parents did not attend college. She did not know how to pay for college or how to get into college. There were teachers and a counselor at school, however, who saw her potential and helped her get into University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

While working to help pay for college, she realized she wanted to be a teacher. Her job was helping students in kindergarten through second grade who were struggling in reading and math.

“Seeing the little light bulbs turn on above their heads and to see it clicked for them, that is when I was like, ‘I want to do that for a job,’” she said. “If I am going to do this for 40 years of my life, I want it to be something I am passionate about.”

And she still does that today, only difference is, she is helping flip that switch for high schoolers.

Fries focuses on the curriculum, of course, but she also is sure to make time to ask how they are feeling, what they are thinking about, and how their lives are going. She is open with them, and in return, they are open with her.

“I call my students ‘my kids,’” she said. “They are as much my kids as my own kids. I am 100% a mama bear. I am there for them, and I am in their corner no matter what.”