Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher to create a long lasting impact with students. I love the guidance I can give students and watching them get excited when they learn something new warms my heart! I also became a teacher to inspire change within students. This inspiring change is when students change from low level thinking and engaging them in high level critical thinking strategies and skills. My final reason I became a teacher is building connections by having meaningful relationships with every student!

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

One memorable teaching experience I have is when I was working with a student who was struggling with multiplication. They didn’t understand how multiplication worked beyond the simple facts of 2*1 etc. one day instead of focusing on the mechanics I worked with the student and broke it down by groups we add. I used materials in the room and we worked on 4*3. When the student realized that we were adding 4+4+4 to get to 12 a lightbulb went off! They beamed with excitement and joy!

What would you do with the $25,000?

What I would do with $25,000 is pay off some of my student loans! This will help relieve some financial burden of paying to two different loan providers. I would also use some of the money to help fund my doctorate program that I plan to start in the next 2 years in Thailand! In the time being I would also use some of the funds to buy extra materials for my classroom that will engage students thinking and learning!