Amanda has three children at Lab: a daughters in 8th and 5th grades, and a son in 1st grade. Amanda served on the N/K Council in 2009-11, and the Middle School Council in 2015-16 enjoyed the opportunity to meet other parents, and learn more about the school. Amanda and her family have lived in Hyde Park for 15 years. Her hobbies are cooking, running on the lake, and anything else that gets her outside.

Kim is the mother of two Lab “lifers”—Elizabeth, who graduated in the class of 2016, and Katie, who will graduate with the class of 2018.  Through the years, Kim has been a room parent numerous times, a tour guide for Admissions, co-chair of Picture Day in middle school, and served on the PA’s high school council.  When not volunteering at Lab School, she enjoys volunteering for AFS, the high school exchange student program, volunteering at church, and she is co-founder and co-owner of KidSnips, a group of 8 children’s hair salons and toy stores in the Chicago area.  She is married to Dan, whom she met at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management many moons ago.

Liz and her husband, Eric, joined the Lab community in 2002.  Her daughter, Grace, graduated from Lab in 2016 and her son, David, will graduate at the end of this school year.  This will be Liz’s final stint with the PA, having previously volunteered in a variety of capacities, including room parent, Lower School Council, Picture Day and MS Graduation.  Outside of Lab, Liz works as a marketing consultant and serves as the Treasurer of the Board of Mary Crane Center, an organization that provides early childhood education to low-income families.  She lives with her family in Lincoln Park and can be found playing tennis or cheering on the Blackhawks in her free time.

Saima is from all over the world. She was born in Pakistan, but grew up in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It was then off to the University of Toronto before arriving in the United States in 2003. She has taught math at both the Winsor School and Walnut Hill in Boston, Massachusetts, and she has continued math education through tutoring Lab students and volunteering in Ms. Rochester’s first grade class. She served as treasurer-elect and then treasurer in 2015-2017, and is back for another term. Saima is the proud mother of three Lab children (K, 3^rd and 6^th grades).

Nancy is the mother of Peter (8th grade), Sophia (6th grade), and Conrad (3rd grade) and is in her tenth year as a Lab parent.  She has served on Lab’s Parent Philanthropy Steering Committee and as a room parent and is in her second tour of duty as PA Board Secretary-Elect and Secretary.  She lives in Hyde Park with her husband Gary and three kids.  Nancy is an executive at a proprietary trading firm and serves on the board of directors of a Canadian engineering and construction services firm.

Archana is the proud parent of two wonderful kids: her daughter, Devyani, is in Grade 10, and her son, Shouri, is in Grade 7. Archana is an adjunct instructor for undergraduate classes at a local Chicagoland University. In her spare time, she enjoys playing tennis, chess and doing hand embroidery. Archana is excited to be a part of the Lab community, and looks forward to meeting everyone.

Patty was born and raised in Panama, where she grew up bilingual and bicultural, playing along the banks of the Panama Canal. Patty has three children at Lab: a daughter in ninth grade, a daughter in fourth grade, and a son in K. They have been a Lab family since 2006. Patty has been a room parent, tour guide, helped with Connections, and is a founding member of LASO (Latin American Spanish Organization), as well as a member of the Parents Multilingual working group. This is her fifth year serving on the PA Board. Patty is a co-chair of the Mad Hatters, a children’s improv storytelling troupe that performs throughout Chicago, promoting reading and children’s literacy. She and her husband Andrew serve as Resident Masters for Burton-Judson Courts, a dorm for undergraduates at the University of Chicago–this is their 16th year presiding over dorms and houses at the university.

Ann just completed a two-year term on High School Council and felt it was important to continue her support for Lab through the Parents’ Association as Communications Coordinator.  This year she will shadow Patty Jones and learn all she can to fulfill the role the following year. Ann is a stay-at-home mom managing four children (John – 12th, Peter – 10th, Jacob – 7th and Kate 5th), sometimes five if you include her husband, Doug.  If Ann is not organizing closets or family albums, she might be out running (my main form of exercise).  Or, if not doing the normal household chores or answering emails, she might be reading a book or knitting (her go-to pastimes). Ann looks forward to getting to know the communications role, the new members of the PA, and the new Lab families as well!

Anu has a 10th-grader (Ananya) and a 12th-grader (Ayaan) in high school. They came to Lab from Avery Coonley School in Downer’s Grove, IL. Anu has greatly enjoyed being a part of the Lab family, and feels that the meetings and events organized by the HSC have made the transition into Lab a joyful experience. Anu joined the HSPC to contribute to Lab and assist in any way possible. Anu received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Delhi Universityand a Master’s in International Business from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi. After completing her MBA from the Katz School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, she worked with Eaton Cutler-Hammer. Anu currently serves on the boards and advisory committees of several not-for-profit organizations focused on arts, culture and education. She is the founder of Eye on India – a not-for-profit working to create cultural and educational collaborations between India and Chicago since 2010.

Zainab is a practicing physician with a junior and seventh grader. At Lab, Zainab has served as a mentor to new families, hosted neighborhood socials and volunteered at PA/faculty events. She has previously been on the board of an independent K-8 school, chaired the school auction and capital campaign. As part of the HS Council, Zainab hopes to bring her passion and commitment for the Lab community to support students, teachers and the administration to the fullest extent possible.

Amy Han has been a Lab parent for four years. Over the past several years, she has volunteered her time at Lab including Connections, graduation reception and other Parent Council events. Amy and her husband, Dennis (AB 85′ and MD 89′), have three children: Nikki (12th grade), Danny (9th grade) and Christian (PreK).  They split their time between Indiana (where Dennis has a medical practice and Amy works at IU School of Medicine) and Chicago.  In their spare time, Amy and Dennis enjoy watching their children play volleyball, basketball, and tennis. They also enjoy eating and traveling, in that order.

Mariana and her husband, Paul, have three high school sons, two of them at Lab. Mariana has been an avid volunteer at Lab for many years. She has been a room parent, a volunteer at Rites of May and other festivals, a Connections Co-Chair, as well as a founding member of the parents group LASO (Latin American Spanish Organization). Mariana is also a trustee board member of High Jump, an organization working to expand the accessibility of our academic enrichment program to talented and motivated middle school students with limited family income. In her free time, Mariana enjoys playing tennis, and gardening.

Lena Jessen is serving her second year as a member of the Lower School Council and has three kids at Lab – N4, 2nd grade and 5th grade. Lena grew up in Carlsbad, NM, moved to Dallas for college (after a brief stint in Connecticut), came to Chicago for graduate school and never left. Despite preferring sun and warmth to grey and cold, she and her family are happy to make Chicago and Hyde Park home. During the week, she and her family can been spotted shuttling between school, ballet at Hyde Park Dance, tennis at XS tennis, karate at Enso Studio, and piano on the North side. Weekends are full of museum visits and backyard time. Please stop in if you hear us playing outside. We would love to have you.

Heather’s daughter, Téa, will be in 7th grade this year. This will be her second year at Lab  (they started in the 2016-2017 school year with the 6th grade expansion). Heather met her husband, Ted, in Chicago—he is an advertising photographer and has a studio one mile from their house. They live in River North and enjoy eating at all the interesting restaurants within walking distance from their home. As a new parent last year, Heather volunteered for a few events at Lab and really enjoyed the parents, teachers and faculty she met and worked with. She is looking forward to the additional involvement that being on the MS Council entails. Heather enjoys reading books on China (1911-current day), as well as books on racism and social justice. This summer, she has has gotten back into reading fiction for pleasure. Heather also likes to collect small objects- antique buttons and charm bracelet charms. She grew up in Woodstock, IL, graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder with a degree in Environmental Design. After college she moved to Chicago and has lived here ever since—which is a really long time (31 years).

My name is Vanessa Copans and I am on the Lower School Council of the PA. My husband, Rich, and I live in Lincoln Park and we are parents to Maxwell (4th grade), Sadie (2nd grade) and Allison (2 1/2 years old). We also have two dogs – Penny and Cooper – who add the wonderful chaos! I grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and went to Colgate University. After 12 years of working at Sotheby’s Auction House in both New York and Chicago, I am now home with the family full time. I am looking forward to the year ahead and feel fortunate to be part of such a wonderful school community!

Melissa has a daughter in 4th grade, and a son in 1^st. Melissa has served as room parent and volunteered in multiple classroom and school events. She grew up in Minneapolis and went to college in Colorado. After school, she moved to Manhattan and then finally to Chicago for graduate school where she met her husband, who works at the U of C Medical Center.  They live in Kenwood and enjoy being part of the Lab School and Hyde Park communities.

Many may agree that the University of Chicago’s distinct intellectual environment of rigorous inquiry depends upon diversity of perspectives and experiences among those who compose it. We, as part of this great University, through our children’s eyes, have affirmed this charge, by collaborating side by side with men and women, members of many races, and those part of a wide range of religious and economic backgrounds. Being outnumbered by women in his own home, Abundio is thoughtful of his daughters’ own citizenship and independent thinking, and he is compelled to use their and the voice of his own experiences to inspire creative outside-the-box thinking as he works together with you to support our children’s education. Abundio and his wife, Elizabeth, are the proud parents of Liv (3rd Grade), Sophie (1st Grade), and Eli (Nursery 3.

Andee has a daughter, Sierra, in 5th grade. Sierra has attended Lab since N3, so Andee has volunteered in multiple capacities at Lab including room parent, ESH council and Co-chair of silent auction and Co-chair of event planning for Connections. Andee grew up in San Antonio and went to school in St. Louis. After college, she moved to Chicago with her now husband where she was only supposed to live for 4 years. 20 + years later she resides with her family in the South Loop. They enjoy traveling, riding bikes to the beach, sledding by Soldier Field and exploring nature. She is an occupational therapist and works at 2 local hospitals on an as needed basis.

 

Entering her 4th year as a Lab Parent of Layla (2nd grade) and Malia (5), Tiffany is excited serve as an ESH Council Member and Room Parent Coordinator. She enjoys participating as an admissions tour guide, picture day volunteer, room parent and Connections committee member. After 16 years of coaching, it was only natural for her to be an active in the Lab Community. Tiffany is also the Marketing Coordinator at South Loop Dental Specialists and Dental Specialists of Northshore when she is not active with her girls. She and her family live in South Loop and truly enjoy the neighborhood, spending time outdoors, playing with their puppy Jett,  traveling and visiting extended family and friends.

Jelani has two boys that attend Lab. Zachary in 2nd grade, and Logan in Kindergarten. This will be Logan’s third year at Lab, and Zachary’s second year. Jelani and his family live in Beverly. Jelani loves doing anything that allows them to be outside as a family, but biking together is their main family hobby. They are lifelong Chicagoans.

Amelia Klein has two kids at Lab – Rafael who is in 1^st grade and Bronte who is in N3. This is their second year at Lab. Amelia grew up in Sydney, Australia and has lived in the USA for eleven years including time in New York, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Princeton. After all these moves Chicago is now home! We love exploring the city and you’ll see us scootering and biking around Hyde Park. Amelia loves baking and scrapbooking and is looking forward to helping create lots of ways for ESH families to connect throughout the school year. 

Christie lives in the South Loop with her husband Jeff and third grader, Sadie, and first grader, Simon. They like to bike on the lakefront and take a road trip every summer. Their family roots are in California and Texas so making friends who are like family at Lab has been really special for them.