8th Grade
My name is Mrs. McGowan and I am the 8th grade teacher, as well as the 7th grade Math teacher here at Burnham. I am excited to be here teaching 8th grade and looking forward to an exciting year!
I will be starting my 13th year at Burnham during the 2024-2025 school year. I previously taught 11 years at a private school where I taught grades ranging from 4th - 8th.
Prior to teaching I completed my Bachelor’s Degree at Governor’s State University in University Park, with concentrations in Math, Science, and Social Studies. I also have a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from St. Xavier University in Orland Park.
My goal this year to to help the students prepare for high school by working on organizational skills and good study habits. In 8th grade Math, we will be focusing our attention on solving equations of various kinds and graphing and functions. In 7th grade Math we focus on integers, solving equations, and percents. In U.S. History we will focus the beginning of the year on the Illinois Constitution and then taking a trip through our nation’s vast history including the Civil War and World War II. Finally in Science, we focus our attention on Newton’s Laws of Motion, gravity, pressure, and simple machines.