Sandy was a frequent contributor to TIPS... Sandra Price, 1943-2009: Teacher at Oak Park-River Forest Across subjects and time zones, she led people to learning By Joan Giangrasse Kates | Special to the Tribune July 28, 2009
When the psychology teacher at Oak Park-River Forest High School retired in the mid-1990s, the principal turned to a history teacher, Sandra Price, to take over the class. Engaging by nature and ever resourceful, Mrs. Price crammed over the summer to become certified for the 1994 fall school term. "She read as much as she could and worked the subject into nearly every conversation she had," said her husband of 40 years, Larry, with a laugh. "Up until then, her background in psychology was limited to the one course she had taken in college." Flash forward nine years of teaching psychology at Oak Park-River Forest High School and Mrs. Price's classes had become so popular that enrollment swelled nearly tenfold, an advanced placement component was added, and additional instructors were hired to meet the growing demand. "She brought so much enthusiasm to everything she taught," said former colleague Ellie Marquez, a retired Oak Park-River Forest High School history teacher. "The only thing she showed more enthusiasm for were the students themselves." Mrs. Price was a teacher at Oak Park-River Forest High School from 1984 to 2003. In the early 1990s, she traveled to Japan to attend a conference as part of a delegation of Illinois high school history teachers. In 2008, Mrs. Price returned from a three-year stay in France, where her husband worked at a laboratory across the border in Switzerland. There she helped organize a support group for spouses of American physicists aimed at helping them adapt to their new surroundings. "Everywhere she went she was seen as someone who could do just about anything," said her husband. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer while still living in France, Mrs. Price returned to the United States with her husband in August and settled in La Grange. --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
