One Day,

I hope for students to be able to freely learn and not be constrained by standards and objectives…

What or who inspired you to become an educator?

Growing up I always remember playing school with my neighbors. For a while, I would be the student and then one day I realized I wanted to actually start practicing being the teacher. As I reflect back on my early school years, I realized school was a source of sunshine. I enjoyed socializing, learning and interacting with new individuals in this safe environment. Throughout high school, as my love for education continued to grow, I began to explore the field through different lenses as I began to actively tutor, work at summer camps and babysit. The educators and mentors I had throughout my time were energetic, passionate and intelligent beings. Even in subjects where I was not quite sure of the material, a dull subject could turn into a fascinating one because of the energy the teacher brought with them. Later, I realized I wanted to focus on mathematics as my subject of focus, and my mathematics teachers throughout high school shined light on the path I wished to take in college.

What roles have you had in the sphere of education?

In college, I participated in a tutoring program entitled Big Brothers Big Sisters. In addition, I volunteered at a local elementary school twice per week during my junior year.

The summer after I graduated, I worked at an academic camp entitled Aspire. This particular program bussed in girls from the Cleveland Public Schools so they could be enriched in math, science, language arts and social studies. During this experience, I had the opportunity to teach 8th grade pre-algebra and intro to financial literacy.

Following this experience, I taught three years at Beachwood Ohio (5th-8th grade math.) A lot was focused on project based learning and there was a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship. Students created a soap business, and the idea of service was heavily stressed as well.

The past three years I have had the pleasure of teaching at a Catholic School. I currently teach 6th grade earth science and 6th-8th grade pre-algebra. I have volunteered with the forensics after school club, and I have sponsored the Pittsburgh Regional and Science Engineering Fair. I have continued to seek professional learning experiences as a member of the Math Department Team and various other planning committees.

Why are you still in the field of education?

I am still in education because I really think I was meant for this vocation. I look forward to going to school every day because each day is so different. You simply never know what might spark new discussion amongst your students. I adore my students, and I particularly love working with middle school age students. Having positive rapport with the students is probably one of the most important elements of teaching. As a facilitator of learning, I enjoy watching the students participate in hands-on activities as well as activities that bring about critical-thinking skills and higher level inferences. The academic and social emotional growth I see throughout the year is a reward in itself.

One day what do you hope for?

Access to quality education and quality resources (even for online learning you see this huge gap between students who have the technology and resources and those who do not.) I hope for students to be able to freely learn and not be constrained by standards and objectives. I hope for all students to be comfortable in the classroom and see the importance of education.