Lia Noel Khan, southside Chicago native of the Beverly neighborhood, always had a lesson or skill to learn growing up. She was active in multiple extra curricular activities as a Chicago Public Schools (CPS) student including cheer, gymnastics, violin, piano, and dance.
Lia graduated from Southern Illinois University (SIU) in May 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and a concentration in coaching. During her sophomore year on the college dance team, she broke her ankle, but proceeded to dance. After a year, she went to the doctor for an MRI scan and was informed her ankle had a deformed bone that could not be fixed, and broken ligaments.
Lia shared, “I knew I had a passion for dance, but at what cost?”
Following the news, Lia received a call from a nearby dance studio to ask if she’d be willing to teach and coach students in the community, near SIU. She then joined the coaching staff on SIU’s dance team shortly after.
“My coaching career was launched into the air right there and then,” shared Lia.
“It literally felt like my calling. All of these opportunities kept calling me to provide support the best I can.”
Following graduation, Lia moved back home to Chicago in June 2024 to begin her journey with the Chicago Teacher Residency as a physical education resident teacher.
During her coaching at SIU, she met the head cheerleading coach for the University of Illinois at Chicago through a mutual friend and was hired as Community Outreach Assistant Coach.
”We run our team like a classroom and it’s very effective,” shared Lia.
“My coaching and my teaching go hand-in-hand and they work together like a well-oiled machine. My teaching side has given me more grace on my coaching side and vice versa. It has made me realize if I don’t teach now, then I won’t be able to coach later.”
Lia trained at an AUSL partnership school, Deneen School of Excellence, in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood.
“I love teaching. It’s one of the few things I feel truly passionate about,” Lia said.
“Part of my love language is acts of service and I think teaching is an act of service.”
Lia and her mentor teacher, Ms. Triplett, built a strong mentor-mentee relationship during the residency program that has exposed Lia to accountability and effective teaching strategies that she will bring into her own classroom next school year.
“AUSL knew what they were doing when they paired me with my mentor because she is an excellent teacher. She cares, addresses needs, and is a disciplinary not only to our students, but to me as well,” shared Lia.
“When I leave Deneen at the end of the school year, I’m going to feel her absence, but I know she’s just a phone call away. You’ll have the connections and resources from AUSL for a lifetime.”
Lia is passionate about her students’ success in physical education as it promotes their general health and well-being to be active and healthy. She leads her days with a student-centered approach and asks her students how their day is going and checks-in with them.
“I make it a point to build very intentional relationships with my students,” said Lia.
“I think we’re [teachers] always students. When you can be a good student, you can be a good teacher,” she said.
“AUSL’s core value of student-centered is not only about the students, but us resident teachers as well since we’re learning and teaching simultaneously. We’re constantly learning and as teachers, it shouldn’t stop.”
Lia’s ankle injury during her college career opened doors for coaching opportunities and prepared her to successfully apply her learnings as a resident teacher with the Chicago Teacher Residency.
In addition to exemplifying a student-centered approach to her teaching, Lia is a prime example of showcasing tenacious service to herself, students, and community.
Learn more about the Chicago Teacher Residency and all of the support AUSL provides resident teachers: https://www.auslchicago.org/about-the-chicago-teacher-residency/
