Shorewood teacher ‘has a heart that is bigger than the school’

A second grade teacher at a Shorewood school said he’s a teacher today because of his kindergarten teacher.

Joey Ancel, 25, of Shorewood began teaching at Troy Hofer Elementary School four years ago and credited Jill Carter, his kindergarten teacher at Chaney-Monge School in Crest Hill, who now is retired, with his love for teaching.

“She was the person in kindergarten who made learning so much fun,” Ancel said. “When I teach, I think of wanting to become more like her.”

Carter said Ancel “truly was a born teacher” and had teacher instincts “right from the very beginning.”

Even after Ancel graduated from Chaney Monge, he would return to volunteer and “let us know how he was doing in school,” Carter said.

“I love seeing that ‘aha’ moment and trying to find different ways to get them to understand something.”

—  Joey Ancel,

“When he decided to become a teacher, he started preparing for his classroom way before he got his job,” Carter said. “When he got his first job, he was so excited and came back to share with us all the things he was planning and how excited he was.”

Kristin Copes, principal at Troy Hofer, said Ancel is “joyful, kind and empathetic” and “has a heart that is bigger than the school.”

“He enters each work day with the mindset of what he can do to make the learning come alive, what we can do to add that connection to the learning, and how a little touch of happiness and fun can hook the students into the learning,” Copes said. “This joyful journey attracts our kids like a magnet, offering high engagement into the lessons.

‘I loved the whole school family atmosphere’

Ancel said he attended Chaney-Monge School from kindergarten through eighth grade and graduated from Lockport Township High School in 2017.

During those years at Lockport, Ancel completed a teaching internship at Kelvin Grove Elementary School in fourth and fifth grades (initially) and first and second grades (lastly).

“I really loved building relationships with students and getting to know them as kids and as students,” Ancel said. “I love seeing that ‘aha’ moment and trying to find different ways to get them to understand something. I love working with them on their goals; it’s really fun for me.”

Ancel said he decided in preschool to become a teacher. He gave his parents tests to take and stepped up his commitment when he was in the sixth grade at Chaney Monge, he said.

“I built relationships with all of the staff, even if they weren’t teachers,” Ancel said. “Support staff. Lunch ladies, crossing guards. I loved the whole school family atmosphere.”

Ancel said he attends “almost all of the school events” and helps plan staff milestone events – bridal showers, retirement parties and recognizing accomplishments.

“His investment as a young educator into his school home shows a kindness and maturity that is commendable and beyond compare.”

—  Kristin Copes, principal at Troy Hofer Elementary School in Shorewood

He gravitated toward elementary school due to his high school field work experiences and because he “loved being a kid.”

“And I wanted to make that fun for kids, too,” Ancel said.

To that end, Ancel sponsors Troy Hofer’s art club, game club and the new before-school puzzle club, which Ancel created to ease kids into their day, he said.

Board games teach students “how to win gracefully and how to be a good loser,” while teaching them games that they may not play at home, Ancel said.

During puzzle club, students separate into groups and rotate through puzzle stations, performing word searches, “mind thinking games” and “matching memory games, things like that,” he said.

“We’re also working on custom puzzles we can hang in the school as well,” Ancel said.

Copes said Ancel supports “any student and any initiative we promote.”

”He is a team player and his investment as a young educator into his school home shows a kindness and maturity that is commendable and beyond compare," Copes said.

Ancel said he loves “everything” about second grade, from teaching “all the fun facts” in all the subjects to children of diverse backgrounds, to building a classroom family and helping children “become the best they can be.”

 “They have their innocence still; they’re sponges,” Ancel said. “They want to learn all different kinds of things. They still look up to you.”

Carter said Ancel’s students are lucky because Ancel “truly has a gift for teaching and he has such a good heart.”

“I’m sure he puts his whole heart and soul into them,” Carter said. “His love and kindness show with everything he does.”

Carter said Ancel’s success is “one of the greatest gifts” a student could give a teacher.

“It’s quite a compliment that he thought back on me as a mentor and a guide and that he was able to take and use his talent to teach so many other students in the next generation,” Carter said. “It makes me kind of feel I’m living on through him, sharing his love with the next generation of students.”