Lauren (Lola) Bell Schieve
The reason she and I met and connected is due to a key trait of hers — generosity and the genuine desire to be of assistance. I put out an ask on LinkedIn on behalf of someone, and she very generously responded. We have been at the school district for a while, although I am nowhere close to her tenure of 20 years. Together, we have many colleagues and friends we respect and cherish.
I figured it was time to meet and get to know Lauren (“Lola” known by some) better, and I found out that the timing was very serendipitous. She informed me over coffee on our first outing that she would be moving with her lovely husband Mike, and their awesome 13-year-old daughter Mia to the Jacksonville, FL area in June. Being able to spend some time in-person with her has brought me deep joy.
I ask her about her childhood and she tells me that she was always curious and adventurous, and the teacher’s pet, oftentimes sitting at the front of the classroom. In retrospect, she muses she may have chosen to socialize less. She was always outdoors in nature, playing sports, building forts and exploring animals, rocks and rivers. She grew up in a suburb of Atlanta, with access to ponds, lakes and forests. She attended a large public elementary and middle school through eighth grade and then transitioned to a private Catholic high school (St. Pius X), where both her older sisters had previously attended. The smaller classrooms along with the learning lab for challenges and different abilities helped, and the classes focusing on comparative religion broadened her understanding and views of life.
She moved in 1999 to Chicago to go to Columbia College Chicago (CCC) art school, partly with the intent of moving away from a predominantly white suburb to a more diverse city with a plethora of new experiences and mindsets. She shares that this is one of the best decisions she made in the trajectory of her life. She studied Graphic Design, and interned part-time at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) starting with the Office of Safety and Security, where she created and distributed identification badges and provided security access. In her second year of college, she worked in the Office of Schools and Regions (Student Adjudication) where she reviewed and documented court case opinions/decisions completed by hearing officers and proofread decision letters and board reports. Once she graduated in 2003, she worked at a graphic design firm as a junior designer for three months and quickly realized that it was not the best fit for her. She then returned to CPS as a full-time administrative employee, and here we are 20 years and several different roles later. She has both grown and grown up in the system, and it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. There were times of non-stop cuts, full of the tumult and stress of losing dedicated colleagues. In 2010 her whole department was eliminated and a new, different one was created. The late Tony T. Howard, III took Lauren with him to the newly formed Department of Education Policy and Procedures. Her scope of work was broad, and could range from enrollment/registration, communications, tracking/verification for report card pick-up, student travel, to homeschooling. She was a sort of one-stop shop. She was a well-respected and helpful resource always going above and beyond for all of her stakeholders.
In her growth over the years, she has learned that setting boundaries and taking time to slow down is essential. There is always more to do but she knows she is a better person when she can take care of herself, and she modeled this with her team (including motivating them to attend workout classes with her). She speaks highly of a daily meditation practice. An app she recommends in the InsightTimer for sleep, anxiety and stress. It has done wonders for her over the years, reinforcing staying in the moment, soaking life in, and slowing things down.
She has learned to be more flexible and resilient - not letting things get to her too much. She is motivated professionally by wanting to make and leave things better than she found them. She is a keen learner, and open to learning and development opportunities that come her way. In addition, volunteering and giving back is something she very much enjoys and fills her heart.
In her forties now, she prioritizes the family life she has outside of work for personal fulfillment. She enjoys traveling, spending quality time with friends and family, and still being in nature - living close to the ocean, a reality for her now. As a mother, she wants to be the best version of herself for her daughter and to make sure she knows that no matter what, she is always loved and supported. Parents are not friends; rather well-rounded adults that shape a child’s values, morals and more. It is her greatest role.
Lauren is now settled by the water (and away from the 24 years of midwestern winters) with her family more, especially as her parents are getting older. Her parents have been strong influences in her life, the right balance for her to learn and be motivated. Her father had been a successful businessman who never graduated from college - that did not stop him - he is smart, kind, hardworking and someone she looks up to. Her mother has had a more caretaker role, who put herself through college and nursing school (including while being pregnant with Lauren). Her parents both worked and shared taking care of the kids, and their different personalities only made the family stronger.
I know I, and many of my current and former colleagues, feel a Lauren-shaped absence now that she is gone, but I know with equal certainty that physical distance will not distance us from each other’s lives.