ETHS Teacher To Be Honored At Northwestern University Commencement

EVANSTON, IL — A longtime Japanese teacher at Evanston Township High School is set to be one of five high school teachers from around the world to be honored at Northwestern University's commencement ceremony next month.

Michael Van Krey, a teacher in ETHS's World Language and Bilingual Department since 1997, is a winner of a 2023 Northwestern's Morton Schapiro Distinguished Secondary School Teacher award, district officials announced.

Named after the former university president, the honor is awarded based on nominations submitted by graduating Northwestern seniors.

Van Krey was nominated by Liam O'Carroll, a member of the class of 2019 at ETHS who is set to graduate with an engineering degree, according to district officials.

“I am so appreciative of Liam taking the time to reflect on what he found meaningful and important to his development during high school, and am thrilled to know I was a part of those experiences that lead Liam to where he is now,” Van Krey said in a statement.

Van Krey was O’Carroll’s Japanese teacher for four years at ETHS, where he helped develop O'Carroll's language skills inside and outside the classroom, including on a 2018 school trip to Japan.

“Though Japanese isn't what he pursued at Northwestern, it speaks to what I have come to learn — namely that our brains are incredibly complex with a near infinite capacity for learning, discovery, innovation, and problem-solving,” he added.

Distinguished teacher awardees are selected by a committee of university faculty, staff and students, who review nominations and request portfolios from nominees to be considered as finalists.

A small group is interviewed and the committee recommends the five winners to administrators. Each winning teacher wins a $5,000 cash prize, and each of their high schools also receives $5,000.

“We create patterns and meaning, derive emotions, make connections, seek and create beauty from everyday experiences. When we exercise our brains, we create pathways and capabilities that are often untraceable to the source,” Van Krey said.

“I teach Japanese not only to hone students’ practical skill of developing multilingualism, but perhaps more importantly, to apply this battery of cognitive tools to realms far beyond the study of a world language.”