Tell us why you became a teacher

I wanted to become a teacher because throughout my life I have always enjoyed school and I have had very positive educational experiences. I wanted to do the same for students. I want my students to find a love for learning, find their passion and strengths. I want to excite students about learning and relate their learning to the real world and start thinking about their futures while creating critical thinkers that will positively impact their communities.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I have been teaching for 31 years, so I have many very memorable teaching experiences. Most recent is my “Drone Wolf Academy” unit. With drones becoming increasingly utilized in the real world, I wanted to excite students in STEM & connect them to careers. Students practiced flying different aircraft in a flight simulator, flew indoor drones, wrote code to fly, took the TRUST test to fly outdoor drones, & experienced drone guest speakers. Students’ lit up in excitement learning to fly!

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would LOVE to use the money to purchase additional COOL real world related technologies for my STEM classes to expand our "Drone Wolf Academy". Technology to enhance our drone unit of study would include indoor coding drones, VR (virtual reality) drones, and drone racing league simulators with remotes would be purchased to enhance our unit and relate to real world careers. I want to get my students excited about learning modern technologies!