I grew up in the Puget Sound region of Washington state, and have lived in Oregon for nearly two decades. I love the land of the Pacific Northwest; the trees, mountains, rivers, and saltwater. Hiking and camping are some of my favorite pastimes. I also enjoy the culture of our region; the friendly people, the arts, music, and festivals have a lot to offer.

Before going to school, I spent two years serving in Americorps. I learned the love of having a purpose with my work that served my community. After completing Americorps, I took my scholarship and attended Chemeketa Community college. There, I completed an Associate of Arts transfer degree, and was awarded the Ford Opportunity Scholarship- an amazing scholarship that paid 90% of my cost of attendance of any Oregon school! I share this story not only so that I can give credit to the Ford Family Foundation for paving the way for my education, but also to share that it is possible to earn a degree even if you don't have a huge college savings.

I transferred to Willamette University, where I earned my undergraduate degree in Biology, with a minor in Geography. I learned to love dissecting things, and squirrel watching (a.k.a. behavioral ecology research project). I joined the Environmental Science club, and volunteered on several projects, such as invasive grass removal from our coastal watershed areas with SOLVE. One of my favorite opportunities at WU was having lunch with Jane Goodall. She told us stories, and we had an opportunity to ask her questions. Jane Goodall has always been one of my heroes for her work with chimpanzees.

After graduating, I worked for Salem-Keizer school district for one year as an instructional assistant before going back to Willamette for my Master of Arts in Teaching. After completing the program, I was offered a job with the Silver Falls school district to teach science at Butte Creek school. I have been here ever since. I love the smaller class sizes, and the opportunity to teach my students for four years. The K-8 configuration also provides opportunities to collaborate with the primary grades. For instance, in 2017 the older students put together a lesson about the Great American Eclipse for the younger students in preparation of the astronomical event.

I absolutely love teaching! Building relationships with my students is what gets me up in the morning, and excited to come to work each day. Getting to know them, and being a part of their lives; their triumphs, their trials, and their everyday, it's what makes my job special. The next best part is I LOVE Science! From the quantum to the cosmic, I am fascinated by learning about our world. I enjoy creating lessons that engage students, and when they are excited about learning I count that as a successful day!

Besides teaching, my other life goals are to travel as much of the world as possible. So far, I have lived briefly in Australia (half of a year), and Ecuador (two summers), including a week exploring the Galapagos Islands. I have visited Iceland, Norway, Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Grand Cayman Islands. Check out the pictures I plan to post on this website soon! I love going to the places I learn and teach about. For example, walking in the Mid-Atlantic ridge separating the Eurasian and North American plates in Iceland, visiting the stromatolites, oldest known fossils, off the west coast of Australia, and snorkeling the island biodiversity of the Galapagos.

I also have a goal to hike in National Parks and Monuments throughout our great country. So far I have visited Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton , Saguaro, Olympic, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helen's, Crater Lake, Craters of the Moon, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Grand Staircase Escalante. The biological and geological features of the places I visit always amaze me. The best highlight from Yellowstone was actually seeing three wolves on the prowl (using a spotting scope). Understanding the history of how the wolves were reintroduced to this park in order to restore it's ecosystem made this extra awesome, because I know I can share this story with my students next time they are learning about it in class.

Picture top left: Stacie Harker at the Oregon Green School Summit at the Oregon Gardens in March 2019.