EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Erika Lynn Whitehead, Class Of 2000

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Erika Lynn Whitehead was among the most involved Evergreen Park Community High School students in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She was a member of the marching band, concert choir, scholastic bowl team, Future Business Leaders of America club, among other groups, and even started the school’s diversity club.

But it was the amazing teachers — two of whom can still be found in the halls of EPCHS to this day — who inspired her to seek a career in education herself.

“I spent a lot of time on campus because I participated in so many activities,” said Whitehead, now the assistant principal at Catalyst Circle Rock middle school on the West Side of Chicago. “If I was not participating in an activity, I was someone helping Mrs. Mistina, Mrs. Schillo, Ms. Michalak, Mr. Kazin, or Sra. Khula. Several of them are the reasons why I decided to go into education – I wanted to give back what was given to me!”

Whitehead didn’t hesitate when asked about her favorite memory from attending EPCHS.

“Touring Italy!” she said, referring to the trip she made as a member of the choir and Madrigals her sophomore year.

“This was my first time out of the country,” she said. “We had concerts in Florence, Venice, Rome and Siena. We even sang in the Vatican on Easter Monday.

Even as a teenager, I had a love for travel, and going to Italy was on my bucket list. I cried at every concert because I just could not believe that I was living out 1 of my dreams at such an early age.”

Playing a significant role in the creation of a diversity club “was so important” to Whitehead because “it gave me space and opportunity to be myself and share my culture while learning about the culture of others.”

“I remember planning a Diversity Day and we had food from different ethnic backgrounds served in the cafeteria.”

After graduating from EPCHS, Whitehead attended Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, one of the premier Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the country. She graduated in 2004 with a bachelor’s in English Education and received her Master’s in Secondary Education from National Louis University in 2010. She’s currently pursuing her EdD in Educational Leadership from Concordia University – River Forest.

Her educational career took off quickly upon her graduation from Hampton, serving as a special education paraprofessional at T.F. South High School from 2005-2006, a middle school English and history teacher then assistant director at Young Women’s Leadership Charter School of Chicago from 2006-2014. She was then the principal and chief learning officer at King’s Academy Charter School in Milwaukee for a year before landing at Catalyst Circle Rock, where she originally served as the director of instruction at Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School of Chicago from 2015-2021.

“I have enjoyed my extensive career in school leadership, but I am ready to transition out of single-site school leadership,” she said. “I would love to work at a network/district level providing support to schools and have a greater impact and reach to ensure all scholars receive equitable access to resources and opportunities, but also to ensure all educators have the skills, tools, and proper training and coaching to effect change in their schools and classrooms.”

Advice for Current Mustang Students
You can do hard things!

Get involved! Try something new! Don’t limit yourself! Be unapologetic and unafraid! You can do hard things!

When my family moved into EP, I essentially had to start all over. New friends, new relationships, new outlook. I used that as an opportunity to reinvent myself. I stepped outside of my comfort zone and got involved in clubs and activities that I would not have explored in my old neighborhood/school. That ultimately gave me the courage to continue doing that in college and even as an adult. Now, I refuse to place limitations on myself and because of that, I have way more confidence in myself and my abilities.

High school is MUCH more difficult today than it was 20+ years ago. Trials and tribulations come, but things ALWAYS get better…you just have to hang in there and push through. You CAN do hard things!