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Dara grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, but quickly became interested in seeing more of the world. Dara was called to education early, but didn’t take a traditional route to become a teacher. She first traveled to the southwest as a high school senior, taking a Greyhound to Albuquerque, New Mexico for her senior project. From there she attended Friends’ World Program of Long Island University, spending the majority of her studies doing field work with children in Limon, Costa Rica.
Dara decided to pursue a Master’s Degree in special education which took her to Tucson, Arizona. She obtained a degree in Bilingual/Multicultural Special Education and met her husband. After getting married, the couple moved to New Mexico. Dara worked for 29 years in New Mexico as a special educator, classroom teacher, and administrator. During that time Dara had two children, and worked with a group of teachers to start a charter school in Aztec, New Mexico. Dara retired from New Mexico in May 2025 and is now ready to start a new chapter in Colorado.
Dara and her husband are now empty nesters who enjoy traveling as much as possible, even if it is just to go visit their children and granddog.
She is thrilled to teach 4th-grade math this year, marking her second year at Mountain Middle School. With years of experience teaching middle school math, nothing brings her greater joy than witnessing those 'lightbulb moments' when a new concept clicks for her students.