Bernhard Walke is the associate principal of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Pilsen, a largely Hispanic, predominantly Mexican neighborhood on Chicago's near southwest side. More importantly, he is the father of a daughter who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and uses a Tobii Dynavox communicator.
Before moving into administration, Bernhard spent 10 years in the classroom teaching English. For the last 15 years, he has worked primarily in the service of immigrant families on the near southwest side of Chicago. This is also where he first met his wife, Rosa, when she interviewed him for an open English teaching position at Cristo Rey.
Bernhard and Rosa married in 2006, and the couple had their daughter, Elena, in 2010. Elena receives services at Easter Seals DuPage and Fox Valley, Illinois.
In his spare time, Bernhard enjoys cooking with his wife and daughter and filling his mind with useless knowledge about 1970s and 1980s European cars.
Bernhard likes Japanese motorcycles, too—he’s circumnavigated Lake Michigan on a $700 1975 Honda CB550 and just this last summer fully embraced his mid-life crisis by spending four days riding a dual-sport motorcycle in the North Woods of Wisconsin.
Bernhard Walke lives in Oak Park, Illinois, with his daughter, wife, and cat named Gato. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in German and holds two master’s degrees in education from Dominican University and Loyola University, respectively.
