Tell us why you became a teacher

I was born with teaching in my blood. My mother, grandmother, and great grandmother were all teachers and honestly, I don't think I had a choice in the matter. Teaching is as much apart of my DNA as my nucleotides . The desire to be a foundation to so many young people is what drove me to pursue this profession but it's the connections I make ever year that push me to continue, even the on my most challenging days.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

One year I walked into a room full of students and spotted this red-headed, shy girl sitting at a table all alone. We spoke daily and as the year came to an end, she walked in with this gift basket for me. It was full of all my favorite things like Reese's cups and Mr. peb but the most precious gift was a card that said that I was the reason she was able to get through that year. She taught me a valuable lesson. That I make a difference, even if I can't see the results right away.

What would you do with the $25,000?

The first thing I would do would be to invest in some awesome manipulatives to level up the engagement in my classroom. Students need to feel like what they are doing will help them in real life, so bringing in a life-size Newton's cradle, a wave creator, and a symatics machine would be a great start! l