Tell us why you became a teacher

School was very difficult for me growing up. I was delayed in reading. Struggled in math. I didn't see an importance in my education and didn't know how to work with my type of intelligence. I was originally going into animation but when I hit a dead end I decided to go into teaching because I was limited on options. But I immediately took the opportunity to share with kids the importance of education and working with their minds so they could advance farther in life and have more opportunities.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

In 2020, I realized before spring break that I would not be returning to school that year and moving back to my hometown. I let the kids know and we were all upset but going to take advantage of the time we had together in the 4th quarter, but CoVid hit. To make it up to that class, I went to their high school graduation 4 years later. While I didn't get to see all of my students the ones I did see, we shared tears and I got to tell them how incredibly proud I was of them.

What would you do with the $25,000?

If I am being completely honest, I would probably first pay off my car. Then save the rest of the money to take my son on a trip to Disney World when he gets older. We would never be able to afford that trip on my paycheck so to be able to do that for him would be incredible.