During a business department meeting, teachers were collaborating about how to advertise the courses and get more student enrollment. One of the ideas was to do a bulletin board display. There was one bulletin board available in the hallway across from the business education department office. I had volunteered to create the display as I was already brainstorming on ideas. I leveraged a set of slide decks that were already created and visually appealing and printed those and cut them out. These showcase the class name in all caps and bold letters. I used primary colors on a diagonal as the background to make the information pop and attract attention. I used cutouts to entice students to think about who to contact about a class. Finally I used the pictures of each business teacher and provided their school email address so they could be contacted with questions.
My student teaching cooperating school has various spirit days and one that was a lot of fun was Crazy Hat Day! My youngest son gave me a bag full of his crazy hats to wear that day. I decided to wear a different one for each of my class periods. This brought many smiles by my students throughout the day including my fellow teachers! This was a great way to connect with my students and show my fun side.
1st Period - Daniel Boone coonskin hat
2nd Period - Muppets Beaker
4th Period - Grey Wolf
6th Period - Disney's Stitch
8th Period - Phillie Phanatic
Business Dept. Bulletin Board
A fellow business education teacher asked me to assist with the creation of the next bulletin board. I agreed noting that I can execute his idea. I was tasked with creating a March Madness bracket for sixteen Dow Jones stocks. I sketched a copy of my plan and showed it to my colleague, who liked my concept. From there, I took measurements of the bulletin board for the black background and the white bracket page. The white brackets were measured and spaced evenly to have a symmetrical effect. I created logo and ticker symbol cards for each company that will be used in the bracket with each group of four having their own regional color card. I traced and cut out letters for the bulletin board title and centered that on the bulletin board. Since it was March, I decided to use the Irish flag colors to tie March Madness with the St. Patrick's Day holiday theme. The bulletin board will be interactive for staff and students using a QR code where they will be taken to a Google Classroom. Using Google Sheets, they will enter their bracket winners that records their entry. My colleague will track the bracket and will post a winner!
Head Jump & Assistant Sprint Coach
After graduating from University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign (UIUC) where I participated on the Women's Track & Field team, I coached Girls' Track & Field for six years at my alma mater, Downers Grove North High School. I coached under Bruce Ritter as the head jump coach since I triple and long jumped at UIUC. The IHSA was piloting triple jump for girls and Bruce Ritter wanted an experienced coach that competed and understood the event. During these six years, I coached not only triple jump but long and high jump. For the same time frame, I worked in Naperville for Allied Van Lines as a financial analyst and accountant. My schedule allowed for my career and coaching a sport I loved and enjoyed.
I continue to work various track & field meets such as the Downers Grove Ritter Invitational, West Suburban Silver Conference and IHSA Sectional as the lead triple jump judge after leaving coaching to start a family and advance in my corporate career.