New principal ready for first Little homecoming

A relic of his past sits high above the office bookshelves of new Schaumburg High School principal Tim Little.

At a whopping 512K of memory with a once-vibrant monochrome monitor, his Macintosh Classic, a lonely 3.5-inch floppy disk drive model, collects dust. It was the computer he used when he took his first teaching job 20 years ago at Hoffman Estates High School, and it's a symbol of how much has changed over time.

Since those early days, he's helped students use PowerPoint and HyperCard presentations, ushering in a new era.

"It is just been awesome the last 20 years to see how technology has affected what we do here every day," he said.

Little, 43, now sits back at his desk in the middle of Spirit Week, thinking about what the school will look like in three years after building construction now under way finishes. He takes daily strolls around the school, calling them "Saxon Walks."

Little was named principal in March, and took over for the retired Sharon Cross. He'd been assistant principal at Hoffman for the last five years and helped coach boys and girls soccer, boys track football and softball.

"Tim Little has been just a very strong educator for the last few years," Palatine- Schaumburg High Scholl District 211 Superintendent Roger Thornton said.

Little cites the inspiration of an old music teacher for his decision to enter education as a career. He still strums an acoustic guitar from time to time, and once in a while sees students wearing AC/DC or Cheap Trick T-shirts, bands he grew up with.

"Get your own music," he jokes.

Off the job, Little spends lots of time in Wisconsin and on this day, his door is covered with press clippings, taunting him over Sunday's Bears victory against his Packers and Brett Favre.

If that needling wasn't enough, the Fighting Illini trounced the then-No. 5 Badgers in Madison.

At Hoffman Estates High School, Little taught American Studies, which covers social studies and literature. He team-taught the course over nine years with Tim Cannon, before Cannon became principal at Conant High School.

They became known in the district as the Tims and became close friends, going on fishing trips together. Cannon joked that it was like a marriage.

"There's the good and bad," Cannon says with a chuckle. "But Tim is a great, great teacher, so it was easy.

"He really connects with kids."

Meet Tim Little

Hometown: Woodstock.

Degrees: Bachelor's from Wisconsin-Whitewater; master's from NIU; certificate of advanced study from National-Louis.

Favorite cafeteria lunch: Grilled cheese.

Favorite sports team: Packers (although he'd root for the Bears if the Packers were eliminated from contention).

Favorite relaxation: Walleye fishing (Evidence: Two walleyes stuffed and mounted on his wall).

Family: Married; 9- and 12-year-old daughters; 2-year-old son.

Favorite music: Garth Brooks, Randy Travis.