Calo was born to teach Italian

After nearly two decades in the classroom, Laura Calo still speaks about teaching with the same enthusiasm she had as a child pretending to run her own classroom in Italy. Her journey from playing make believe in a small Pugliese town to leading classes in Italian and Spanish in a Chicago suburb has been shaped by the forces of immigration and culture, and a lifelong passion for education.

Calo was born in Chicago, but when she was only a year and a half old, her family moved back to their hometown of Mola di Bari. She spent the next nine years there before returning to the United States.

“Both of my parents are from Mola di Bari,” Calo explains. “My mom was around 19 when she came to Chicago, and my dad was about 22. Oddly enough, they met here in Chicago, got married, had three kids, and then we moved back to Italy when I was little.”

Growing up in Italy provided Calo with what she describes as an incredibly social and joyful early youth. Living in a condominium surrounded by friends her age, she spent much of her time outdoors, immersed in the kind of close-knit environment that defined many childhoods before technology took over daily life.

“I had a friend who lived above me and two friends who lived below me,” she says. “We would play outside all the time. You have to think, this was the late 1980s. The way we kept each other entertained was just being outside or playing board games.”

That carefree, interconnected life changed dramatically when her family moved back to the United States. At 10 years old, Calo suddenly found herself in a country where she didn’t speak the language and hardly knew anyone outside of her immediate family.

“I felt like my childhood was taken away from me at an early age because I didn’t know English,” Calo explains. “I didn’t have any friends. I just had my family.”

Her family settled in Niles, where Calo attended middle school before later graduating from Maine East High School in Park Ridge. Learning English at a special school took about a year. Now she speaks both languages fluently, though traces of her Italian accent still occasionally emerge.

“I think my accent comes out when I get mad or when I’m really excited,” she says with a laugh.

Even before returning to America, Calo already knew she wanted to go into education. She remembers playing “school” with friends in Italy and insisting on being the teacher every time.

“I remember as young as 8 years old arguing with my friends over who got to be the teacher,” she says. “I was always so persistent!”

Calo still keeps in touch with her childhood friends through WhatsApp and other social media platforms.

While her desire to share the language and culture of her native country inspired her to teach Italian, Calo credits her high school Spanish teachers with encouraging her to pursue Spanish as well.

“I knew I wanted to be an Italian teacher, but Spanish came so easily because the languages are so similar that I decided to do both,” she explains.

Calo attended Northeastern Illinois University, where she initially majored in Spanish. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree, she returned to complete additional coursework in secondary education, English as a second language and Italian.

At age 25, Calo officially began her teaching career at Addison Trail High School, where she has spent 18 years at the helm of a variety of Italian and Spanish classes.

Her philosophy centers on communication rather than memorization. Instead of emphasizing endless grammar rules, she prioritizes helping students speak and understand the language in real conversations.

“Instead of breaking down every verb conjugation, I focus on giving them phrases they can actually use,” she explains.

Calo often uses exercises called “chat mats,” where students practice realistic responses to common questions.

“I teach them how to answer a question naturally instead of focusing first on all the grammar rules behind it,” she explains.

For Calo, the most rewarding part of teaching is connecting with students while sharing the culture that shaped her own upbringing. Above all else, she says she never loses sight of the privilege involved in teaching students who willingly opt to learn her native tongue.

“Students have choices,” she says. “So, when they choose Italian and genuinely want to learn about my language and culture, that means a lot to me. It’s an honor.”