Effey Kaldis sat at a table, smiling and looking at the steady stream of people entering The Diplomat West Banquet Hall.

“It’s a new experience and I think it’s going to be great,” she said. “… I’m nervous about getting into the routine and having so many things going on, but I can’t wait for it to start.”

Kaldis will be a seventh-grade social studies teacher this fall at Bryan Middle School — the school she attended growing up. She was one of 74 new teachers and administrators welcomed Monday during the 18th annual New Teachers Luncheon for Elmhurst Public Schools District 205.

Teachers — who hailed from California, Minnesota, central Illinois and Elmhurst — were paired with a member of the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which sponsored the event.

Chamber sponsors introduced the new teachers, sharing bits and pieces of the educators’ lives.
District 205 has eight elementary schools, three middle schools, a high school and a prekindergarten center. New teachers from Timothy Christian and Immanuel Lutheran schools were also at the luncheon.