I am looking forward to being your child's teacher this year. I currently live in Ashland, New York with my husband and sons, Jase and Ethan. At home, I enjoy spending time with my family. I also enjoy cooking, traveling, and reading. We have a chocolate lab named Tucker and a tabby cat named Mittens.
I have been fortunate to work at WAJ now since December of 2003. I started as a 5th grade teacher in December after a teacher retired early. As a 5th grade teacher, I taught all academic areas including reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. Later, I spent 7 years teaching social studies to 5th and 6th graders. This will be my 10th year teaching 4th grade. I have been a teacher now for 22 years.
I grew up in Tannersville and graduated in 1998 from Hunter-Tannersville Central School District. As a student at HTC, I enjoyed ELA, social studies, art and music. My junior year of high school, I volunteered in the afternoon in 3rd grade and Kindergarten classroom in the elementary school twice a week for two quarters. It was my hope to become an elementary teacher after graduating from high school. Senior year, I tutored a 5th grader twice a week for the entire school year. I played the clarinet in band, sang in the chorus, and was editor of the school yearbook senior year. Soccer, volleyball and floor hockey were my favorite sports in school. Finally, I traveled with the Art Club to Italy for 10 days my senior year visiting Rome, Venice, Milan, Assisi, Florence, Bologna, and the Vatican City. It was a great opportunity and experience.
After graduating from high school, I went on to Hudson Valley Community College to study Early Childhood Education. While attending HVCC, I was able to visit numerous early childhood centers to make observations and to teach lessons. As a requirement of the program, students wishing to continue their education in teaching completed additional hours in elementary classrooms as well. While completing this portion of my credit hours, I worked in the Albany Montessori Magnet School in Albany in a 4th grade classroom and in a kindergarten classroom at the Free School. I graduated from HVCC in 2000 with honors.
In the late summer, I received a scholarship to Russell Sage College in Troy. There I studied Elementary Education with a concentration in Social Studies. While attending Russell Sage, I worked in various classrooms each semester in the Troy City School District, mostly in School 13 and 14. I also completed hours at an after-school program near college. My student teaching experience was at the Troy City School District at School 14 in a 5th grade classroom. I graduated from Russell Sage in August of 2002 with program honors.
Prior to getting a teaching position, I started my master's program in Reading/ Literacy Specialist with a concentration in special education from SUNY Albany. I graduated from SUNY Albany in December of 2004. While completing this program, I substituted at Coxsackie-Athens School District, Hunter-Tannersville Central School District, and at Ravena-Coeymans Central School District.