I am an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher (ITRT) at Rocky Run Elementary in Stafford County, Virginia.  I am a proud Firefighter wife to my husband, Brian Passmore of 13 years. We have two very active and full life boys, Sawyer (six years old) and Jaxson (one years old). Our family enjoys time with friends and family, traveling, and going on countless adventures together. In particular, we enjoy going to the lake, skiing, riding bikes, and going to the beach. In my free time, I enjoy riding my Peloton bike, swimming, and training for triathlons. 

My ‘why’ for becoming an educator has always been to love, serve, and care for students and teachers alike. Through the pandemic, when technology became the main avenue for teaching students, my passion for teaching and finding creative ways to make learning accessible for all students shined brighter than ever before. 

My heart and drive to make learning accessible for all students is rooted in my personal educational experience as a child. I was inspired to become a teacher by the many educators that believed in me and saw past my Special Education label. Although my learning disability created many obstacles that I have had to overcome, it has empowered me to become the educator and leader I am today. The desire to support struggling students, drove me to get my Bachelors of Science in Psychology from the University of Mary Washington. During my program, I had the privilege to complete an internship at Reaching Potentials, a private non-profit organization serving children with autism and their families. This internship resulted in a job opportunity as an Applied Behavior Analysis Therapist where I worked with children with autism doing early intervention with children ages two to nine years old. For three years I worked with children with autism in both home-based and center-based settings. I was trained to use principles of behavior analysis to help improve students' social behaviors, play, and language. This incredible job experience sparked my desire to further my education and earn my MEd in Elementary Education to become a teacher. 

Not only did I want to become a teacher, but I specifically desired to become an inclusion teacher. I wanted to advocate for students like myself with learning disabilities to be included in the general education classroom. After completing my masters in 2013, I began my teaching career as a 2nd Grade autism and special education inclusion teacher in Stafford County at Conway Elementary. In 2013 I was recognized as Stafford County’s First Year Teacher of the Year. During my five years as a 2nd grade teacher I strived to create an inclusive environment where different perspectives and opinions were valued which enriched my students’ learning experiences. 

I have a deep desire to learn and grow in all aspects of my life, but my passion for learning how to integrate technology into the classroom blossomed in the beginning years of my teaching career. I was struggling as a 2nd grade teacher to meet the wide-range of needs of all of my students. At the time, I only had a few laptops in my classroom. When I implemented Blended Learning in my 2nd grade classroom, the laptops were used as an avenue of differentiation to help meet the needs of my students. By empowering students to take ownership of their learning and giving them a purpose for their work and efforts, my classroom was transformed. 

It was through that experience that I was inspired to become an Instruction Technology Resource Teacher, ITRT. In 2017 I accepted an ITRT position at Rocky Run Elementary School in order to teach and support other teachers in transforming their classrooms too. I have been instrumental in transforming the classroom as we once knew it. My colleague expresses, “During the roller coaster of the pandemic Nina was our safety harness. She not only impacted students in a single class, she reached and impacted every student by empowering every teacher in our school to do their best through impossibly tough situations. She is calm, logical, kind and always willing to do anything to get answers.” Through the countless hurdles educators have faced during remote learning, I have remained positive and hopeful for the future. 

While being an ITRT during the pandemic was one of the greatest challenges in my career it has also been my greatest honor. It was through this challenging experience that my current principal and mentor, Nick Roman helped spark my passion for educational leadership. In 2021, I decided to pursue an endorsement in educational leadership and supervision from Longwood University.  Through the program grew as an educator, leader, and person.  I truly exemplify what it means to be a life long learner. I have a burning desire to learn, grow, and be the change I want to see in our educational system for the betterment of our students.  I am truly grateful for the countless opportunities I have had to grow and learn through my leadership internship experience, audio books, podcasts, and many conversations with a variety of mentors I have been blessed with throughout my life. I feel truly grateful to work in education where I get to love, serve, and care for others every day.