Tell us why you became a teacher

I have always wanted to be a teacher! I absolutely love working with students. The look on their face when they learn something new is priceless!

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

When I was teaching 4th grade and my students didn't know their addition facts, let alone their multiplication facts, I held a multiplication competition in March. I set up a bracket and pulled my students's names randomly and placed them in the bracket. We played Multiplication War. I had a new student who barely spoke English. All the students wanted to play against him. He asked me if he could borrow a deck of cards to take home to practice and ended up winning the contest!

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would pay my medical bills. I was recently in the hospital for an infected kidney stone that turned septic. I was in 4 different hospitals, had 4 surgeries, and was on a hospital for a total of 78 days. I was on a ventilator for 20 days. I have been home without pay since Feb. 20th. I am not sure when I will have the strength to return. I am currently using a walker.