I'm excited to be returning for my twentieth year at Ardrey Kell, and my twenty-third year teaching. I can't tell you how proud I am to be an AK original!

This year I am teaching AP Literature and Composition. I also sponsor the writing club and the school newspaper, The Ardrey Kell Chronicle. Our student journalists have won awards for their work with our publication, and I am very proud of them!

I came to AK from South Florida, where I taught English and Newspaper for several years in Hollywood, FL. I hold a bachelor's degree from UNCG in English and Spanish, as well as a master's degree from FAU in Reading Education. I am passionate about literature and writing, and I look forward to working with my students to enhance their appreciation of literature and to develop their writing skills.

On a personal note, I come from a varied background. The product of an Appalachian dad and a lovely Spaniard, I grew up overseas, specifically in central West Germany (as it was called then), where my father was in civil service for the United States Air Force. (Yes, I was living there when the Berlin Wall finally came down, though we moved shortly before reunification.) This childhood was a unique opportunity as it allowed me to travel in ways I only dream of now. My favorite vacation spot was, of course, Spain, where most of my relatives lived. I am super excited to have had the chance to return to Spain the last few summers, after a thirty year absence.

After graduating from an American high school in Kaiserslautern, Germany, I moved to Greensboro, where I lived for six years, four of them in UNCG dorm rooms. In 1998 I moved with my parents and sister to Florida, where I met my husband and had my children. After eight years of flat land and almost no signs of seasonal change, other than hurricanes, we were through with the Sunshine State and headed north. Palm trees are great when you're on vacation, but the Carolina woods and hills called me back. Fortunately, we are beginning my absolute favorite time of year, the autumn, when I can get my fill of apple picking, silly Halloween costumes, pumpkin pie, crisp leaves, cool air and, finally, holiday cheer.

I moved up here with my husband (a former chef--we eat well!), a host of in-laws (yes, that's a good thing), and my two children. Rebekah is a graduate from Ardrey Kell and Appalachian State University, and for the first two years after graduation she taught high school English here in CMS. Last year, she moved to Spain to work with the NALCAP program to teach English in Galicia, the region from which my family hails. She liked it so much she decided to stay! My son Daniel is also an AK grad. He went to real estate school and now works as a NC and SC licensed real estate agent working hard to help people find their dream homes in the Charlotte metro area and in South Carolina.