After teaching at Oak Park High School for the past two years, English teacher Tristine Wenker has returned to Medea Creek Middle School to teach eighth-grade humanities, film and drama.

Wenker came to OPHS after the retirement of English teacher Don Enoch and took over Honors English IV, Madness and Identity, Children’s Literature and Myth to Science Fiction. She was previously employed at MCMS for 16 years, teaching eighth-grade humanities.

Wenker moved back after eighth-grade humanities and film/drama teacher Steve Peterson resigned two weeks into the 2019-2020 school year.

“[Peterson] was offered another job, it was closer to his home and where his family goes to school so he wanted to see if he’d be able to take that job,” MCMS Principal Brad Benioff said.

Seeking a replacement for Peterson, Benioff asked the high school if there was any way Wenker would be available to return to the middle school and take over Peterson’s classes.

“I spoke with the high school and Mrs. Wenker to see if there would be any possibility of coming back to the middle school because she had worked here before and had taught that subject. Given some of the structures of the schedules, both at the high school and here, it worked out that she was able to do that,” Benioff said.

Although Wenker enjoyed teaching at the high school, she agreed to return to the middle school to fill the open position.

“Since I had taught [at MCMS] for so long and I loved the staff and the program [there], even though it was really sad to leave everybody at the high school, I agreed to come back,” Wenker said.

Wenker’s classes were given to teachers Jessica Wall, Roland Herberg and Kathleen Rohlfs-Leggett after she returned to the middle school.

“It’s gonna be a different experience. It’s just readjusting to a different teaching style and a different way of doing things,” senior Sanjana Prudhvi, whose class period was taken over by Wall, said.

Wenker will continue to teach at the middle school for the remainder of the school year.

“Coming back to Medea was like coming home. And, although I really miss the people at the high school — the staff was fabulous, the kids were great and I loved the experience — I think in the end it was an easy transition,” Wenker said.