I received my Bachelor of Arts in History Teaching from Brigham Young University. I taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade history for a couple of years in my home state of South Carolina before moving back to Utah. When my 3rd child was diagnosed with autism, I became actively involved in the autism community. I also worked in several of my kids' classrooms as a room parent. About a year ago, I decided I was ready to go back to work and took a job as a resource aide at a local middle school. I worked partially as a secretary to the special education department and partially as a 1-on-1 classroom aide for students that needed additional support. I intended to do that for several years, however, at the end of the school year, a position opened up in one of the self-contained classrooms and I jumped at the opportunity. This year, I have been working as a para in that class, which consists of nonverbal students with aggressive behaviors. I have come to realize how much I love working with students of all abilities. Every person has their own strengths and weaknesses, challenges and triumphs. I truly believe what the poet William Wadsworth Yeats said--"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." I will help you learn the facts, but my greatest mission as a teacher is to help you love to learn. I tutor history, geography, French, and reading, but my favorite subjects to teach are history and geography. We can learn so much from the successes and failures of generations past. The world is a vast and varied place and it's so important to learn about cultures and perspectives other than our own. In my spare time, I enjoy painting, crocheting, reading fantasy adventure novels, and playing Dungeons & Dragons with my family.