Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher because I fell in love with the challenge of educating kids who are sometimes the most difficult to teach because of their own trauma and limitations. Then I fell in love with the kids. Plus being in charge can be pretty cool.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

It’s hard to pick just one. I think my most memorable moment was working with a student named Joey, who had some significant challenges. Joey was having trouble with regrouping, because as an avid reader he insisted that he work from left to right, which you can’t do when solving math equations. So I flipped the worksheet upside down and Joey was able to complete the entire page with 100% accuracy. I was rewarded with a big hug from Joey and at that moment I knew I’d found my niche.

What would you do with the $25,000?

So many things that I could do! I’d put some of it toward our bathroom that we just had remodeled after it was destroyed by a tornado, I’d put some of it into savings, and the rest I would use to help my own kids further their education.