Tell us why you became a teacher

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. When I was in elementary school, I had a wonderful teacher who kept working with me when I struggled to comprehend what I read. She never gave up on me and at the end of the year, it ended up clicking with me and I was able to comprehend what I read. Since then I knew I wanted to help students just like I was helped in elementary school. I love seeing the 'aha' moment when a student's eye lights up when they finally understand a concept.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

In my class, I was teaching about NASAs space missions. We discussed what we would need to take and how to fit it into the space shuttle. I gave the students the task to build a straw rocket using certain materials and different straw (body) lengths to see which one would go the furthest. The students were really into it. We spent an extra day on this assignment because they kept testing and rebuilding their rockets to get it to go the furthest.

What would you do with the $25,000?

If I won the $25,000, I would definitely pay off some loans, and then save the rest of the money to put towards a down payment on a house. I would also get a dog!