Schaumburg teacher releases book of poetry, prose
After 28 years of teaching literature and poetry at Schaumburg High School, English teacher Nancy Condon Sack finally heeded the advice of her students: she went out and got herself published.
Her book, “Musing Along the Ike, contains 55 poems and prose selections capturing Sack's impressions of everyday experiences, as well as vivid imagery of dealing with loss and embracing the beauty of hope.
In late August, the veteran teacher found herself at her first book signing, reading her poems for an audience other than her students, at Café Amano in Elmhurst, where she lives.
Nearly 120 people attended and, even better, 100 of them bought books.
In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that Sack and I are former classmates, having attended Our Lady of the Wayside School in Arlington Heights, well, years ago. Although we attended different high schools and colleges, we traveled similar paths.
She pursued American literature in college and took courses in creative writing before earning a master's degree in journalism at Wheaton College.
However, where I began writing for a career, Sack instead chose to teach the craft and inspire students to embrace literature and the written word.
“I love what I do, Sack says, “and I love sharing my work with my students.
They, in turn, have come to love her poems. Their favorites of the contemporary poems and prose in the book, include “Parody, “Hope, and “Ride the Cart, which captures Sack's random thoughts as she goes about the task of grocery shopping.
Her next reading will take place Thursday, Oct. 21, in one of the American studies classes at Schaumburg High School. She will read her poems with a former student playing guitar in the background.
One day later, Sack will be among the presenters at the fall convention of the Illinois Association of Teachers of English at the Clock Tower Resort & Conference Center in Rockford.
She will promote activities and lessons designed to instill a love of poetry in students, as well as read from her book in a session she calls “Putting the Passion into Poetry: Teaching and Writing Poetry.
Sack says she has been influenced mostly by American poets like Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson and E.E. Cummings, and that their influence can be seen in her work.
“I use a lot of metaphors and personification, she says, “but (the poems) are very digestible and accessible. I wanted to make them palpable for a general audience.
Schaumburg Principal Tim Little says Sack not only inspires her students, but her colleagues on the faculty as well. She is one of only a handful of teachers in the building that are now published authors.
Her writing has earned her an induction into the International Library of Poetry for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry, as well as a semifinalist award in the 2007 Creative Communication Adult Poetry Contest.
Sack's poems also can be found in the National Council of Teachers of English Gallery of Writing.
“Nancy is a talented teacher who has the unique ability to make her writing come alive, Little says. “Although an accomplished teacher and writer in her own right, Nancy uses the powerful tool of writing to create unique opportunities and experiences for her students.
To obtain a copy of Sack's book, visit OutskirtsPress.com, Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.