Sonia Jassal walked out of Naperville North High School on Wednesday, Sept. 2, carrying two bouquets of flowers, more than five handwritten cards, a homemade tres leches cake and a hardcover diary.

The 56-year-old multilingual learners paraeducator retired after more than 13 years supporting students who are learning English at the school at 899 N. Mill St. Plantar fasciitis, aggravated by logging roughly 15,000 steps a day across the large campus, forced the decision.

"I could have worked a couple years, but my foot can't handle it anymore," Jassal told her daughter, Roveena Jassal, when she arrived home.

Jassal said being in school energized her. She loved talking to students, connecting with colleagues and having access to so much information every day. She also alternated between physical therapy sessions at Athletico and standing in her kitchen to cook for her husband and daughter each evening.

During her tenure, Jassal worked with students from Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico and Colombia. Raised in India, she arrived in the United States at 22 after graduating from Sophia College in Ajmer, Rajasthan, and teaching math and science to fourth and fifth graders for a year. Her own background as an immigrant and English learner gave her a sense that she could help students feel they had someone to rely on.

Jassal co-founded and led the Indian Student Association at Naperville North, which she called one of her greatest projects. Twelve students signed a handwritten card for her retirement. Tenth grader Dhriti K. wrote that she had fun in ISA because of Jassal and wished her a great retirement.

Colleagues in the ML department marked her departure with a booklet of notes. ML teacher Megan Straka wrote that the office would miss Jassal but added she was happy for her. Fellow paraeducator Alyssa DeSantiago wrote that Jassal helped her navigate the large school during her first weeks and made her feel welcomed.

Jassal, Straka and teacher Alyssa Allen formed what they called the "SHEESH" club, an informal support group where they vented about daily struggles. The group held "food days" where Jassal brought trays of chicken biryani and barfi, an Indian milk cake.

She also found calm in the art room, creating pottery alongside students. During her final week, she placed two salsa red puffin bird sculptures in the kiln.

Jassal's retirement comes as District 203's multilingual learner population continues to grow. The district served 1,416 multilingual learners during the 2025-26 school year across 71 languages, up from 823 receiving English language services in 2013, according to NCTV17. District 203 plans to expand its ML program to all secondary schools in the 2026-27 school year.

Naperville North's ML program includes both Transitional Program of Instruction and Transitional Bilingual Education in Spanish, according to the school's website. Paraeducators like Jassal travel between classes including biology, study hall and English to support students throughout the day.

Two salsa red puffin birds are drying in the kiln at Naperville North. Their maker is home, resting her feet.