Bio for tha' New Gig

"Everything you touch has a story." {unknown}

As I walked along the sidewalk in Sydney, Australia I noticed a small sign with this written on it. Every now and then a phrase grabs my attention and this one most certainly did too. It so simply states the significance of everything; no matter its size or status, whether we realize it or not, all of what we encounter is valuable and inevitably adds to our own “story.”

I was born in North Carolina and moved to Indiana after graduating high school in 1995. After living, working, and learning in Indianapolis and Bloomington I received my B.A. degree in Early Childhood Education (pre-K-3) from Indiana University in 2003. I student taught pre-school in Bloomington, primarily for university professors’ children. I also chose the optional route of student teaching through the fantastic Cultural Immersion program at IU. After a year of preparatory work I did my student teaching and additional fieldwork in Kayenta, AZ on the Navajo Rez. Besides student teaching, my entire teaching experience has been with LKSD. In 2003, my teaching career commenced in Quinhagak with a K-3 classroom comprised of 19 students ages 5-12. I transferred to Nunapitchuk in 2005 and remained there until 2010, teaching primarily first and second grade. In Nunapitchuk, I also dabbled with upper elementary and junior high tutoring.

That grand E.L.A.S. title above is a fancy way of saying I am the K-5 reading and writing contact person at the District Office. The title is still very new and grand to me because 2010-2011 will be the first school year that I venture into this position and away from classroom teaching. While I have had many wonderful experiences in the classroom, I do look forward to earning the E.L.A.S. title as I embark on this challenge, learning more about teaching Language Arts, working with teachers, visiting schools, and being a new member of the DAPS team. The upcoming experiences should add a lot to my story.