Dawn Kleeber - Great Gal in a Non-traditional Role
Launch the media gallery 1 playerDawn Kleber joined Team KACC in August of 2016, accepting the position of Automotive Technology Teacher's Aide. Her love of teaching and working with children developed long before. She is even an alumn of KACC's health occupation program.
When her youngest, Nichole was three, she would volunteer in Momence School's Headstart program. As a volunteer, she witnessed the great work of the Teacher's Assistant and the incredible progress her daughter made over a two-year period. Ms. Kleber said "I had a lot of respect for her and thought one day, I want to be able to help someone else's child like that."
At that time, she worked at Sears Warehouse working a ten-hour per day shift. After 8 years at Sears, she started working for Momence School District as a food service worker. It was then she had the opportunity to work with the high school. When students needed help with their homework, she would leave the kitchen and help students. This inspired her to take the necessary class through the I-KAN Regional Office to obtain her certification as a Paraprofessional.
She started with Kankakee High School and BBCHS as a substitute Teacher's aide in March of 2008. In 2009, she was offered a full time position at Kankakee High School, staying with Kankakee until she accepted a position at Indian Oaks Academy in Manteno. She says she loved her job at Indian Oaks, but when she saw the KACC position in the Daily Journal, she knew exactly what she wanted to do. Since coming to KACC, Dawn says she has found "peace and happiness" and look forward to each and every day.
Her connection to Automotive goes way back to her father, who was an auto body mechanic in South Holland, IL. Growing up on the farm with equipment needing repair and going to work with her dad allowed Ms. Kleber the opportunity to learn about cars and enjoys constantly learning about the automotive technology industry, auto repair and maintenance, stating Mr. Stafford "is a great teacher to work with. I'm constantly learning more and more about automotive technology along with our students."
Launch the media gallery 2 player"Working at KACC gave me a connection back to my dad." Making a difference in students' lives, helping teach students new things about cars and watching them get excited about learning and figuring out what they want to do with their future is very rewarding.
Outside of work, Ms. Kleber loves spending time with her two girls, Dava and Nichole. Dava is currently a student at University of Alaska studying anthropology. Nichole recently graduated ONU with a Bachelors in Science and works full time at a day care . Like her mom, she loves the children too! Ms. Kleber also enjoys the "simple things" including cooking, gardening and planting flowers, and of course, being with friends.