My passion for teaching stems from a philosophy instilled in me by my 4th grade teacher, 'anything worth doing, is worth doing well'. My goal for educating students is to challenge them to be curious, courageous, creative, and critical thinkers in order to empower children to take charge of their own success. Learning needs to be intentional, energetic, hilarious, focused, motivating, and inspiring, which requires passionate educators, such as myself, to create environments where all of this is possible. I approach education from a whole-child perspective. A student's success is not based solely on their academic achievement, but their social/emotional development, their relationships with their peers, family, surrounding community, culture, and world. This enveloping philosophy begins with developing a student's character, heart, intellect, and creativity equally; the things that resonate from their core, so that their success is not based purely on academic standing, but who they are as a person. I love each and every one of my students and I make sure they know and feel this in the way I relate to them. Their success is directly linked to my commitment to making it so.