Rachel Chessar has joined Solon High School in the 2025-2026 school year as a Biology teacher. She said she hopes to continue pursuing her goal of helping others and being a meaningful figure in the classroom.

Q: Where are you from?

A: I grew up in a small town known as Boston Heights, Ohio. Currently, I live in Willoughby.

Q: What does your life look like in Willoughby?

A: I live with my fiance, and we are getting married next year. His family is originally from Mentor. So, when I came back from school, we decided to live over there.

Q: What did you study in college and where?

A: I went to school at Mercyhurst University. I was fortunate enough to also play basketball there. My bachelor’s is in Sports Medicine, with a concentration in Pre-Physician Assistant and then a minor in Exercise Science. My graduate degree is a master’s in Secondary Education in Biology at Mercyhurst, and then I stayed one more year and got a master’s in Organizational Leadership.

Q: Were there any events that influenced you to pursue what you studied?

A: My entire family grew up in the medical field, so my family is mostly in the medical field. I’m the oldest sister, so I thought I was going to go medical, but life’s a journey. I switched to education, and I absolutely love it.

Q: What was it that brought you to education?

A: I love helping people. My purpose in life is just to help people. And, I think, what better way to do that than teaching high school?

Q: Why was it that you chose high school?

A: Going through high school, you’re faced with a lot of challenges both academically as well as athletically. Me being an athlete [and] also a student, I think I can give back to specifically the high school community and help them through the same challenges that maybe I faced when I was in high school.

Q: Why did you come to Solon to teach?

A: I heard great things about Solon. Originally, I was at Gilmour for the last two years. I heard so many wonderful things about Solon, how welcoming it is and how it’s such a strong community. When I had the opportunity to come, I took it!

Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring teachers?

A: The reward that you get from being a teacher is something that is really hard to find in this world. I love what I do. I think that if you have any aspiration in becoming a teacher you should do it because it’s awesome watching a student have an ‘aha’ moment. Or, helping a student through a challenging time and helping a student athletically. There’s nothing that beats that.

Chessar will continue to teach Biology with Solon for the foreseeable future.