Hyde County Schools

Several years ago, I was asked why I teach. My answer, "I teach because children are in my soul”. I am inspired every day by the idea that teaching is an act of service, and for more than 20 years I have been honored to serve my students and families. My teaching career began when I was just a little girl playing in the old two-room schoolhouse that my parents had purchased beside our home in Southwest Virginia. This early training led to my mother calling me a natural teacher. Much to her dismay, I changed my major on the day of college sign up, thinking that teaching wasn’t my path. Little did I realize that my journey would bring me back to teaching when I earned my first job as a high school German teacher in 1993. From there, I knew that teaching was my life’s mission. I have been honored to educate over 1,000 students in my career in a variety of school settings. To have touched and influenced so many lives is my ultimate accomplishment. But I know that I am never alone as a teacher because educating a child includes all stakeholders: parents, teachers, and the community, as we work together to help students become their best selves. What makes me the happiest as a teacher are the relationships that I build with my students and colleagues. Teamwork does make our educational dream work. Furthermore, I enter each day knowing that it is not only my duty to educate young scholars, but it is my responsibility to mold students' understanding of self through social emotional learning and the use of restorative practices in the classroom. I strive to bring joy to students through active learning, to engage their minds with metacognitive practices, and to express my love for them as I watch them grow. Finally, when I wake up every morning, it isn't the "what" that truly inspires me, but the who. It's knowing that I mean something to a child - that they rely on me, trust me, and need me to be present in their lives every day to serve them.