This is my twelfth year as a public school teacher in North Carolina. My journey started at Appalachian State University in beautiful Boone, North Carolina, in August of 1999. I started out in pursuit of a creative writing degree and changed course in the second semester of my first year. I come from a long line of educators and resisted the idea for as long as I could. One day, it hit me. I was walking across campus and realized that my path needed to change. I went to the right people, looked over my options, and decided to switch my course of study to middle grades education. It was the right fit, and I have been totally dedicated to the craft of teaching ever since.
After graduating Cum Lade with honors (I missed Magna Cum Lade by .25 percent), I applied to three different schools, in three different districts and ended up at Charles D. Owen Middle School, in the beautiful Swannanoa Valley. My first year on the job was with three ninety-minute, eighth-grade English classes. I went on to spend four years teaching on a small team specializing in drop-out prevention for the school's at-risk population. The next year saw me teaching both seventh and eighth-grade history/ social studies, and then I transitioned into teaching seventh-grade language arts, where I currently reside. I love it.
My teaching accomplishments include the following: Owen Middle School Teacher of the Year - 2005/06, National Board Certification, History Alive certification, and SIOP certification. I also served as the School Improvement Team chair, from December 2010 to June 2012. I just completed work on my master's degree in reading education, at Appalachian State University. Go Mountaineers!
After graduating Cum Lade with honors (I missed Magna Cum Lade by .25 percent), I applied to three different schools, in three different districts and ended up at Charles D. Owen Middle School, in the beautiful Swannanoa Valley. My first year on the job was with three ninety-minute, eighth-grade English classes. I went on to spend four years teaching on a small team specializing in drop-out prevention for the school's at-risk population. The next year saw me teaching both seventh and eighth-grade history/ social studies, and then I transitioned into teaching seventh-grade language arts, where I currently reside. I love it.
My teaching accomplishments include the following: Owen Middle School Teacher of the Year - 2005/06, National Board Certification, History Alive certification, and SIOP certification. I also served as the School Improvement Team chair, from December 2010 to June 2012. I just completed work on my master's degree in reading education, at Appalachian State University. Go Mountaineers!