Bio
I absolutely love teaching fifth graders at Kehrs Mill Elementary! The 2023-2024 school year marks my 19th year of teaching at Kehrs Mill. I will have taught fifth graders for all except one of those years. I started at Kehrs Mill in 2005-2006 teaching third graders.
My educational background includes a Master's Degree in Instructional Technology Leadership from Southwest Baptist University. Anytime technology can be included in a learning experience, there is an added benefit and spark of delight from everyone involved. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the University of South Florida.
This is my 36th year of teaching. My career began in Clearwater, FL in the 1988-1989 school year, where I taught grades 1, 3, 4, and 5 over the course of six years. (As a new teacher, I had the opportunity to experience various grade levels and start up a brand-new elementary school.) The next ten years took place with the Hazelwood School District where I taught grades 3 and 5. I have found a home here at Kehrs Mill for the past 18 years!
My husband and I moved from Olivette to Barnhart in 2004 in an effort to have a bit of wide open space. We do not have children of our own, so I "borrow" about 44 students each year from August through June. :) We live on 5 acres with our three-and-a-half-year-old South African Boerboel mastiff, Roxy. She's definitely a sweet, smart, fun-loving, and spirited young "lady"!
I am originally from Clearwater, Florida. I moved to St. Louis in the summer of 1994 when I married my husband, Jim. We met through our involvement in karate. He and I train in a traditional Okinawan style of karate called Uechi Ryu. We have a karate dojo (school) in our basement. He holds an 8th-degree black belt and is my Sensei (instructor). He is one of only 11 other 8th-degree black belts in the world in our style, with 10th degree being the highest possible rank. I hold a 3rd-degree black belt which I earned in Okinawa in October of 2008.
When I am not at school, I enjoy spending time with friends and family, training in karate, and gardening (flowers and veggies). I LOVE the St. Louis Cardinals! I also enjoy being outdoors, traveling, or going out to eat. I prefer coffee over tea, Coke over Pepsi, country music over hard rock, dogs more than cats, summer sun more than winter snow, and being around water more than climbing mountains...although I love getting anywhere out in nature, especially near water! I do have many friends who are Pepsi and tea-drinking, cat lovers who snow ski in the mountains....and that's okay! :)
My classroom is a warm, yet structured environment where we learn, explore, share, trust, and have fun. I believe that fifth grade is an important transitional year for our students. Fifth graders enjoy this last year in elementary school with all of the support and closeness that comes with it, while they also become more independent as they prepare to move on to middle school. Along with all of the important academics at Kehrs Mill, fifth graders will practice what it means to demonstrate good character and integrity and learn interpersonal and leadership skills.
I look forward to partnering with my students' families to achieve success and have a wonderful culmination of elementary school! This will be a great year in fifth grade! Welcome!