Teacher

NAME: Ms. Kukurza

SCHOOL: Mount Carmel Academy

CLASS: 4th grade

SCHOOL PHONE: 773-525-8779

About The Teacher

        My name is Heather Kukurza.  I am the fourth grade teacher.  This will be my fifth year at Mount 
Carmel Academy, and I have taught fourth grade ever since I have arrived at this school.  I love MCA 
for many different reasons, but two that stick out in my mind are the great community we have here 
at school and the comforting feeling I get when I walk through the halls.   
        I went to the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio for college.  There I received my education 
degree and my teaching certificate.  From there, I spent my first year teaching sixth grade at a 
Catholic school in Dayton, Ohio.  I moved to Chicago with my roommate and best friend from 
college, and we still live together to this day.
        My family is very special to me, and we are extremely close.  I spent most of my life growing up 
in Hudson, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland) with my three younger brothers named Michael (25), Bradley 
(23), and Tyler (17).  Our parents, Dave and Debbie, have been married now for 33 years and have 
shown us a great example of what love is.  I see my family almost twice a month, and I sometimes I 
still think it is not enough.  My family members are very involved in life and their community.  My 
dad retired from his job at IBM and is now a college professor at John Carrol University in Cleveland 
and also works as a consultant.  My mom teaches high school religion at Walsh Jesuit High School in 
Cleveland, and is also starting a house for unwed mothers in the city.  My oldest brother Mike works 
for a non-profit in Tennessee called Apalachian Service Project and heads up their summer program.  
Brad just moved to Palo Alto, California and works for Loral Space Systems building satellites for 
them.  Tyler is in his senior year at high school and is currently looking for colleges to attend.  My 
grandmother, whom is 95, volunteers weekly at her church, the meals on wheels programs, and at 
the hospital boutique.  Lastly but not least, my boyfriend, Ben, lives in Chicago and now works for 
Sanofi Pasteur selling vaccines.  I am so proud of my family and I love them all dearly.    
        Even though my family is in Cleveland, I am very happy to be here in Chicago 
and teaching the fourth grade.  Through the school, I have met many wonderful people whom I am 
glad to call my friends.