My junior year in high school my aunt asked if I wanted to coach my cousin's cheerleading team. I had done Pop Warner cheerleading all through 8th grade so I knew I still remembered the cheers. I showed up to the practice and there were about 30 seven to eight year old girls. The first practice went great and they learned 2 cheers. It was the next day I showed up and they all ran up and hugged me to say hi and I knew this is what I wanted to do. I liked seeing the ah-ha accomplishment of them.

My second year teaching I had a small, fifth grade class of 12. 11 boys and 1 girl. I was teaching proper nouns and I went around the classroom asking for a proper noun for a restaurant. Well, I get 99, McDonalds and then Hooters! I was like okay, next, a proper noun for a car. It was funny, and I tried my best not to react, but you never know what kids will say. This still makes me laugh today.

If I won $25,000, I would pay off some bills, put money into savings, and treat my family to something special, like a vacation. I would also love to use part of it to bring additional resources and experiences into my classroom for my students.