I am pleased and proud to be starting my 13^th year at Centerville.  Most of those years have been spent teaching first grade, but I have been fortunate to be able to move to Kindergarten twice and then loop up to first grade with many of the same students. Then I did two years in 2^nd grade – which was amazing!

This is year I am returning to 1st grade. Yea!  I am excited about the chance it provides for me to grow and learn a new curriculum as an educator (as so much changes, even in just two years).

This is my 17^th year in the county. Before I was at CES, I was at Twin Ridge Elementary teaching 3^rd grade for  two years, then looping (hmmm, I sense a trend) to 4^th.  Then I did a year there as a Reading Interventionist.  I guess looping three times makes me officially ‘loopy’. It is something I believe strongly in and I am blessed to have principals that also feel it is a valuable thing to do.

My teaching career began in NY State (where I also received my BS in Education and MS in Education-Reading from SUNY at Cortland). I taught in upstate NY for 5 years (doing K&1), then in Saudi Arabia for 3 ½ (doing 1^st grade and Rading Specialist (I was blessed to be able to take 9 years off to be at home with my children before they started school themselves), and then I spent 1 ½ years in Santiago, Chile as the Reading Specialist.

I recently received a necklace with a charm that says “Love the life you live“ and on the flip side says “Live the life you love”. It is wonderful that teaching just happens to be what I love to do.