I started off at Seatack as a grade 5 teacher in 2004. I was there seven or eight years. I transitioned over to Strawbridge, transitioned to the ITS role, and then I made the leap to Teaching and Learning as the content integration specialist now the elementary science coordinator.
What do you like best about your role?
I think it’s an amazing opportunity to see so many different leadership styles across the division. I think it really speaks to the need for a personalized approach to your community that you serve. It’s great to interact with all the teachers and really up my game with how I provide support because it’s so different. Every day is a different day.
What do you like about science?
I think science is great because it’s all about wonder and about investigating. So if you have some reluctant learners, one thing that most kids come to school with is curiosity. If you can tap into that, you really can open doors for them and I find you can do that through science.
And when you’re not encouraging curiosity and wonder here at work, how do you like to spend your time?
We just started a new adventure as a family a couple of years ago. We started a family farm. And so our life is full of wonder – wondering what we’re doing from day to day. I just love family time because it’s so special because it’s not as frequent as I would like, so I really hold my kids and my husband close and spend any available time with them. We live on the intracoastal, so if it’s fishing or paddleboarding or anything we can do outside. That’s one thing I’ve really noticed is a difference with my kids – as soon as we made that move, it’s back to the time where you make up games when you’re playing outside. I don’t have to worry about them being plugged in too much or too connected because, really, it’s the whole world out in front of them that they are exploring.
What animals do you have on your farm?
Oh my goodness – it grows by the day. Lots of chickens. Lot of ducks. Five pigs. We just recently added a goat named Gilly. Animal Control contacted us and said, “We have this sweet little goat who is living in house, can you come get him?”
They reached out to you?
They knew we were crazy enough to take on a goat, I guess. Then we learned that goats are herd animals, so we had to get another goat. Then the goat we got is pregnant. So, it’s quite the circus but it’s tons of fun. And it’s something new every day for our family. We’re learning as we go. We’re completely novice at this, but I think it brings us together even closer.
Is there anything else you would want people to know about you?
Probably just that this is a really exciting time in education. I know our work is really hard work but it’s a unique opportunity for us to have this responsibility to kind of redesign education. I think everyone who is involved right now is extremely valuable and it’s going to pay forward more than just our immediate impact, it’s going to pay forward so far into the future. So I think that’s why I’m so passionate about my work.
#WeAreVBSchools
