PRE-K – Laura Sparks – Laura gets the award for being Plato’s veteran teacher. After graduating Kendall College with a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Laura came to Plato. Laura is a very energetic person. She plans and presents appropriate activities, lessons and units with confidence. Her goal is to inspire curiosity in her children. She is a great asset to our Early Childhood Department. She is currently enrolled in University of Illinois (Chicago) Graduate School of Education Program.  

PRE-K-Kindergarten– Debbie Kasperek – Debbie is also a graduate of Kendall College and is a veteran at Plato. She has been her six years teaching grades Pre-K through 3rd. Debbie is a very enthusiastic and motivated teacher. She is open to suggestions and willing to spend time and energy to create a positive learning environment for her students. She plans on pursuing her master’s degree.                                        

1st/2nd/3rd Grades – Lena Broderson – Lena is a graduate of Bard College with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. She entered Northwestern University Alternative Teacher Certification Program as a Golden Apple Scholar and has completed her Masters of Science degree in Primary Education at Northwestern. 

 5th/6th/7th/8th Grades – Marian Koritsaris – Marian has a Masters Degree from UIC in Instructional Leadership and postgraduate credits from national Lewis University. As an alum of Plato and a parent whose three children graduated from Plato, Marian has dedicated herself to a career in education and is the core of our school and curriculum. With extensive knowledge in early childhood learning she also has a keen understanding of middle school students and what type of education they too need. She is a mentor to all our teachers and encourages them all to achieve their own teaching style. She also teaches classes at DePaul University and Triton College. This summer she served as assessor for the National Board of Professional Teaching standards.

Latin Teacher - Daniel Bloom - Jonathan graduated with a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  He majored in Classics.  This year he is teaching Latin to the 5th-8th graders. 

Math Teacher - Jonathan Lin - Jonathan has a B.S. from the University of Illinois.  He comes to us from teaching 6th and 9th grade mathematics at the University of Chicago Charter School.  

Movement Teacher - Ellyzabeth Adler Stanke - Ellyzabeth is the artistic director and founder of the Project Danztheatre Company.  The non-profit company founded in 2001, is a group of multi-disciplinary artists who collaboratively explore creative ways of adapting literature to the stage through various artistic media.  Movement classes are also offered to our Pre-K though 8th grade students.                                    

Greek Teacher - Despina Toufexis - Despina is the head of our Greek language program. Through the years, she has been able to adapt herself and students to many situations. She is able to teach the very experienced Greek student as well as the students with very little knowledge of the Greek language, each at their own levels.

Joan Cashman – This will be Joan’s fourth year volunteering at Plato. She is a long time parishioner of St. Martha’s and the “yiayia” of our pre-school.

Venus Campanelli - Another alum of Plato and a mom of two children that attend Plato. Venus works in the office and handles all the day-to-day activities, and chaos. She is also school nurse, lunch helper, recess monitor and anything else you want to call her. In her past life she was a Account Rep for the National Easter Seal Society.