I was born and raised in Holmen, WI. I grew up in a household of four, mom, dad, and one older sister. My sister, Elizabeth, resides in Marion, Iowa with her husband, Nick, and one-year old puppy, Honey. My dad, John, is a sixth grade math teacher at G-E-T, and my mom, Karen, is an accounting specialist at Altra Federal Credit Union. I am recently engaged to Zachary Zangl, a former Winona State student-athlete and current Central High School math teacher, football coach, and powerlifting coach. I went to Sand Lake Elementary, Holmen Middle, and Holmen High School. I am currently attending Winona State University for Physical and Health Education. I came into college pursuing a degree in Business. I decided to switch to teaching after realizing that I enjoy helping others find their passion while continuously wanting to push people to be their best and become lifelong movers and learners. My mom always knew I was going to be a teacher, but it took me some time to figure out my own passion, and now that I have, I cannot wait to begin my teaching career.

Ever since I was little, I was always involved in sports and activities outside of school. I continued on to play on three varsity teams throughout high school; golf, basketball, and soccer. In college, I exhausted my eligibility through playing golf. Sports is largely where my passion for movement comes from. Not knowing much besides my personal experience, I chose the path to become a health and PE teacher. I took my mom’s advice on becoming a teacher adding in my interests in movement and health and took on the double major at Winona State. My hard work and dedication to learning is what is going to help me become the best physical and health educator that I can. I have attended state conferences and plan to attend the national one this year to expand my knowledge base in this profession to move from “gym” teacher to health and physical educator.

Not only have I gained the necessary knowledge from my classes and professional development opportunities, but I have gained hands on experience in elementary, middle school, high schools, entry level college courses, DAPE, coaching, and after school programs. I have been in a co-teaching environment with peers and veteran teachers, my own 2^nd and 3^rd grade PE class, Kids First (low-income after school program), middle school DAPE class, a variety of specialized high school classes, and even have got to take the lead on teaching a couple of health and PE classes at the college level. Not only have I got this experience in the classroom, but I have coached middle school girls’ basketball and golf. Each summer I also help out with the local FCA camp where I coach soccer and tennis.

My dream job would be teaching middle school health, PE, and DAPE while coaching or leading an active club after school hours. I am passionate about all of these and would love to have the variation throughout my day. Movement, health, and relationships are what I am all about and I could bring it into these various settings to help my students become life long active learners while moving towards optimal health fulfilling their goals and aspirations. I will help my students discover joy in moving, health, and building connections. My overall personal mission for my career path right now is awaken, challenge, and empower all students through collaboration in a high energy, movement setting to stimulate cognitive functioning in order to improve daily academic growth and success.

In my time at Winona, I had multiple opportunities to work with students with diverse backgrounds and exceptionalities. I volunteered at the after school program in Winona, Kids First, where there was a ton of diverse learners there mostly from low-income families. I also was able to participate in a practicum in a DAPE class at the local middle school. I created and planned for many diverse learners from CP to learning disabilities to visual impairments.