Tell us why you became a teacher

I followed into my father's footsteps and joined the US Army early in life and then became a teacher as a result of his sad memories as a monolingual student. It encouraged me to want to serve bilingual students and ALL children. My father inspired me to become an educator and to earn my doctorate degree.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

My most memorable teaching experience is when my 2nd graders learned about Life Cycles caring for catepillars and butterflies and tadpoles and frogs. Boy, did it take some hard work and time, however, it paid off as we released the butterflies into our campus garden area and I experienced the joy from all the children. What great lifelong memories we built together that year.

What would you do with the $25,000?

Over the many years of teaching, I have put myself in debt with Home Depot as a result of buying many school supplies. From plastic containers and organizing bins; to painter's, duct, and shipping tape; to plants, soil, seeds and pots; to batteries and sharpies, to holiday season decor to garnish a nice conducive learning environment, to disinfectant wipes, brooms, and dust pans;...and the list continues, I have accummulated a huge deficit because I CHOOSE to continue to teach. Pay my debt.