I firmly believe that all children are born inquisitive, desiring to know more about the world around them. My job is to make learning accessible to my students. I am energetic and creative, but I think that most students understand that I genuinely respect and care for them, as well as their learning.

I earned a BA from Houghton College, then later took courses to become a certified elementary school teacher at Atlantic Union College. I also took online courses at Grand Canyon University to get my Masters in Education, with a focus on reading instruction.

I taught third grade for five years. I was 100% responsible to teach all academic subjects in my classroom, modifying lessons to make the subjects accessible to all learners. This involved whole class instruction, small group work, and one on one counseling, as well as additional work with individual students after school hours.

In addition to this, I volunteered as a tutor for Journey's End Refugee Services. I worked with both children and adult English Language Learners. I really enjoyed working with this group, both helping them to develop their English and learning about their cultures.