As a second year teacher at the high school, Mr Sortal has had a great impact on our community. He started teaching full time in 2012, and he has enhanced the Business program at our school. 

The school was in search of an advisor for the Finance Club last year, and Mr. Sortal decided to fulfill that role. He started a finance club at his previous school, and was a perfect fit for the role. 

“It seemed that the students and the teachers really liked it, and wanted to learn more about it,” he said. 

Growing up in finance, he instantly found a passion for the club. He had knowledge in this field through being an options trader at the Board of Trade earlier in his career.

“[The finance club] is a great way to get students that have an interest in finance involved, and to hear speakers that are experts in their field talk about not only what they do but their career,” Mr Sortal said.

Many students express how much they enjoy Mr. Sortal’s passion and knowledge as a teacher in the classroom. He knows how to fit his students’ needs, and he constantly seeks advice from his students to ask them what he can do to make class more interesting.

“Mr. Sortal makes finance club very enjoyable as he always finds interactive ways to learn about finance and the economy while being a fun personality that keeps me engaged,” junior finance club member Micheal Byun said.

He never fails to create a great working environment for each student. 

“I love how energetic Mr. Sortal is. No matter what we are doing in class each day, he always figures out how to make it engaging and fun. I look forward to his class because I am able to learn new things about marketing in a unique and engaging way,” senior Sophie Portalatin said. 

Mr. Sortal has helped students to develop interest in businesses to help their lives for later years to come. It seems that almost every day in class, students can take away a lot of lessons from his teachings. 

“He is good at using hands-on education and relating to his students,” senior student Bronson Kuever said. 

Sortal got to where he is now because he took a lot of advice from role models throughout his life. 

“Look at people you admire and look up to, and work backward to figure out what they did to get there,” he said. 

Mr. Sortal also has a lot of experience with hockey, since he both played and coached in his lifetime. Mr. Sortal attended New Trier High School and played for their hockey program there. He then took his talent to play at the University of Vermont. 

He coached at New Trier for seven years and Mount Carmel for three years, ran the Northbrook Hockey Club, and coached at Lake Forest College.

Throughout the years, Mr. Sortal has discovered many life lessons from hockey.

“You can’t play hockey if you can’t skate, so in order to play hockey you have to learn how to do something challenging first. The attitude and mentality that it’s okay to fall and it’s okay to fail is really important if you’re trying to learn something new,” he said. 

This attitude builds a persistent mindset which can make you successful in your career. For instance, this has helped Mr. Sortal with his teaching practices to give students valuable information. 

In his free time, Sortal participates in a small band with his friends just for fun. He loves the music world, and it provides an outlet for his community to listen to music. 

“Through music, it brings people together,” he said.

He also mentioned why it’s a nice thing to do. 

“It’s a healthy outlet, and… a healthy way to get out and do something with friends,” he said.

This source of relaxation and a way to spend a small part of his free time has been a very unique and great outlet for him to have fun. 

Mr. Sortal has brought a lot of wisdom to the business department, but the advice he shares is what makes him such a significant teacher. 

“Experience lots of different things to find what you’re interested in, what you’re good at, what you like, and what resonates with you,” Sortal said.