I was born and raised in State College, Pennsylvania, the home of Penn State University. When I graduated from High School, my mother moved to her homeland of Germany, leaving me to grow up fast. I spent the next two years exploring life and finally decided to join the army in 1977.
I held several jobs in the army, which included Supply specialist, Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), nursing instructor, mid-level leadership instructor, and project manager. As I served in a “peacetime” army, I had the opportunity to visit several places. I was stationed in North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, DC, Texas, New York, and Germany. My final duty assignment was the most challenging and most rewarding. The leadership school I taught in was housed in WWII buildings that were scheduled for demolition. I was selected as the project manager to move the course out of those buildings into a state-of-the-art building. I managed the projected from the time the cement foundation was poured to the ribbon cutting at the opening ceremony. We moved from a paper-based environment to a paperless, distance-learning environment.
I retired in 1997 in San Antonio, Tx. and worked for a government contractor as a project manager. The contract involved ensuring all military medical facilities were technologically ready for the year 2000. I then took a position with PacifiCare as a “process efficiencies” project manager. While these jobs provided challenges they did not provide satisfaction or fulfillment.
In 2001 I attended the Region XX Alternative Teacher’s Certification Program and began teaching in 2002. I work at a Texas elementary school, where last school year I taught Kindergarten through 5th grade students with emotional disturbances in a self-contained classroom. This position provided me both the challenge and the satisfaction I was looking for in a job, but after 5 years, I was emotionally and physically drained. I have never taught in a general education classroom, so my principal decided I needed that exposure and assigned me to 1st grade for this school year.
I am working on a Master’s in Education in Curriculum and Instruction – Computer Education. I view technology as a true way to offer differentiated instruction and hope to use this degree to write technology based differentiated instructional lessons that can be used in all classrooms.
On the personal side, I have been married for 20 years and am the proud mother of 3 children – Levon, 30, stationed in Japan, Tiara, 18 (graduating this year), and Samuel, 16 (just got his driver’s license). My whole life revolves around my kids who are very active in church, school, and sports. My hobbies include reading and swimming.
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