Westbrook Bio

So writing a biography about yourself seems a little bit like writing your own eulogy so I'll proceed with caution limiting myself to the things that I'm proud of.

I started my teaching career in 1995 at Lincoln Park High School. That year I taught 5 sections of African-American history. Subsequent years would have me continuing to teach African-American history alongside sections of honors and double honors US History. While there, I had the good fortune to work with a slew of CPS veterans who each in their own way contributed to my own development as a teacher and hopefully as a supportive colleague. A few of those people that either directly or indirectly effected me were: Chris Kean, Mark Lipscomb, Doug O'Roark, Jim Riddiford, Freddie Jordan, Anita Goldberg, Marvin Stoller, Lavera Roman, Janis Todd, Nate Mason, Shannon Rohde, Kris Kostopoulos, Gail Gibbons and of course Bernie Eshoo. In 1999 I ran for and was elected Associate Union Delegate at LP to serve alongside Ron Smith and Bernie Eshoo.

After 5 years at LP, I took a year off from teaching to pursue my Masters Degree at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where I had the good fortune to work with Robbie Lieberman, S. Jonathan Wiesen, David Werlich, and James Smith Allen among others, who each deepened my intellectual understanding of recent historiography while also helping to further my development as a writer.

In the fall of 2001 I started at Payton. Since I arrived here I have taught the following courses:
    -    Advanced Placement US History
    -    Advanced Placement US Government and Politics
    -    Advanced Placement Comparative Government and Politics
    -    Honors US History
    -    Honors Latin American History
    -    Modern World History
    -    Early World History
    -    20th Century Global Conflicts
In addition, the seminar I'm most proud of was one that I taught in the Spring 06 on Historical Research at the Newberry Library. Hopefully, I will be able to offer that seminar again in the Spring of 07 to select juniors and seniors at Payton. Past seminars that I have taught are: Mass Appeal: Hip Hop and the Politics of Identity, This Business of Music, Writing the DBQ, Consumer Education, and Why Do They Hate Us?: US Foreign Policy in the 20th Century.

In addition to teaching, I am also serving for the second time on Payton's Local School Council. I hope I can continue to advocate on behalf of my colleagues that have elected me to this position. My other major endeavor is as a Ph.D. student in the Policy Studies program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. There, I am studying the history of the Chicago Teachers Union with an eye towards writing my dissertation on a constellation of policy issues that are effected by the CTU. My first publication, an article in the forthcoming book Reversing the Global Assault on Teaching, Teachers and Their Unions (2008) edited by Lois Weinberg of New Jersey City University, deals with neoliberal reforms in the Chicago Public Schools since 1995.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I play bass in a hip hop band called small CHANGE. Jah, D, Todd and Mike are four of the funniest people you can ever hang with. These guys help me forget about the world of paper and books and how serious the world is.

My children are the best thing in my life and support me in spite of myself sometimes.