I was inspired to become an educator by my younger sister, Sophia. Sophia and I are 13 years apart, and if you ask my mother, she will say that I am Sophia's second mom. When Sophia started second grade, academics became challenging for her, and I would often sit with her after school to help her with her assignments. At this point in my life, I was in college pursuing my degree in political science with no thought of teaching as a career. I still remember helping my mother go through Sophia's backpack and arranging teacher conferences. English is my mother’s second language, and because of this, she relied heavily on my support. Sophia struggled with writing complete sentences and also dealt with anxiety on tests. I would often email her teachers asking for Sophia's test results in order to have Sophia correct her mistakes. Communication with her teachers was not always the best; it wasn't easy to understand the grades and know what information my mother and I needed to reinforce at home. I did not know it then, but I was learning what type of teacher I wanted to be. Sophia is now in her sophomore year of college, but my experiences with her education continue to impact me daily. Every day I strive to be the teacher I expected my sister to have; to be the teacher who puts in test grades by the next class and answers emails over the weekend. I have the pleasure of working with students who are someone's little sister or someone's little brother and that is a responsibility I take very highly.

Throughout my time at Henderson, I have been afforded many leadership opportunities that have helped me grow professionally. I have served as the Seventh-grade team lead and Seventh-grade Curriculum Lead. As the Seventh-grade team leader, I was responsible for all parent communication in 7th grade and coordination of student events. With the help of the 6th-grade leader, I coordinated the 2016 and 2017 end-of-year trips to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. With the help of the administration, I organized the end-of-year awards for 7th and 8th grade. We were fortunate to have the 8th-grade end-of-the-year award ceremony in person this year. I was in charge of putting together the students' graduation slideshow. I also had the pleasure of being on stage to recognize students who received awards. Covid impacted many student events during the 2020-2021 school year. As a grade level leader, it was my top responsibility to ensure students could end the year with a celebration.

I served as Curriculum Lead for two consecutive years. This responsibility is close to my heart because curriculum development is a passion of mine. As curriculum lead, I created cross-curriculum projects for the seventh-grade team. I also helped the middle school implement new curriculum programs such as the Thinking Maps curriculum. Although the middle school does not have a curriculum position this year, I still invest my time to ensure curriculum state initiatives are implemented. For example, I organized middle school events for Founders Month and Constitution Day. For Constitution Day, students participated in a Constitution trivia raffle and were able to win gift cards. I believe it is essential to engage students in critical historical events, and adding prizes always helps.

My curriculum responsibilities do not stop at Henderson. As the sole Civics teacher, I am responsible for providing the state with input on Civics standards. In 2019, I participated in the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) Civics Instructional Materials and End-of-Course (EOC) Assessment Test Item Specifications Review. In the summer of 2020, I was chosen as a Teacher Expert to participate in the FDOE K-12 Civics and Government Standards Review. As a "Teacher Expert," I reviewed K-12 standards, collected input from teachers in my district, attended live webinars and completed evaluations on standards.

In addition to my curriculum responsibilities, I am also a certified clinical educator. In my five years as a clinical educator, I have had the opportunity to mentor four pre-service teachers, and I am currently mentoring one this semester. As a teacher, I can confidently say that teaching is not easy, and it is understandable why teacher burnout is high. However, I believe teaching is a rewarding profession, and I am honored to welcome pre-service teachers into my classroom. It is essential to help pre-service teachers practice classroom management and experiment with lessons. It is not always easy (especially letting control of your classroom), but aspiring educators must have a safe place to practice their craft and receive constructive feedback. I can remember eight years ago, being a student-teacher and feeling nervous about being in another teacher's space; however, what I remember the most is the support and encouragement of my clinical educator. I hope my mentees can say the same about me.

When I think of the word "school culture," I think of it in two ways: community building and student achievement. When I first came to Henderson, my focus was the latter. I poured my heart and soul into recreating the Civics curriculum with a focus on student engagement. I know from having a younger sister that I needed to make government exciting and applicable to students. I also spearheaded the Civics Tutoring program, which continues today. I recruit students using candy and games as incentives. In my second year at Henderson, I became the 7th-grade school sponsor and coordinated field trips to Universal Studios and Island of Adventures. For some students, school trips are the only time they visit a theme park. Seeing the excitement on their faces provides all the caffeine a teacher may need to get through the 18 hour day. Additionally, it allowed me to share my love of Harry Potter with the students; they could see a different side of me. Covid has put a damper on trips, but I am happy to report that I have a green light to start planning a trip for May 2022.

Although 2020 was light on in-person activities, I coordinated virtual Founder Month activities and the Constitution Day raffle. I convinced my fellow social studies teacher to put on a silly white wig and create a video introducing the Constitution Day Raffle. The kids enjoyed participating in the game and trying to beat each other's scores. The kids' joy taught me a critical lesson: no matter how small you think the event is, it is worth it if it makes students smile.

I am very grateful for the nomination.