Tell us why you became a teacher

When I was in 3rd grade, my teacher, Miss Higgs, helped me with cursive writing. I struggled with it and often got frustrated. She told me to believe in myself because she would never give up on me. Years later, my English teacher, Mr. Herzog, supported me the same way Miss Higgs did. He build my confidence in reading and bringing the words to life. I decided then to be like these two teachers in my life. I wanted to support students that learning didn’t come easy to and build confidence!

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I was teaching 7th grade English, and I had a student that was struggling with a lot at home. He was years behind in reading. We worked together in small groups, I found things that interested him, and I told him he could do hard things. We started with just words, then paragraphs. He pushed back often, but I kept with it. On the last day of school he brought me his favorite book he had read. He told me that he never knew how to read and I showed him. He said he reads daily now and likes it.

What would you do with the $25,000?

Being a teacher, it is extremely important the my own kids receive an education. I would love to divide the money in half and start college funds for both of my kids to become what they dream of!