How did you get into teaching? Teaching runs in my family. My mom, my aunts and uncles and grandparents have all been teachers. It was just a matter of deciding what to teach and at what level.
Where did you work before Boone? I taught a summer class at University of California, San Diego, where high school students could come in and take a college-level course. They got to stay in the dorms and take a real college class.
What is the funniest thing that has happened in your time of teaching? When I was teaching over the summer at University of California, San Diego, and I would walk around and people would be so openly playing Pokemon Go everywhere. I really should know more about it from my students but I never got into it.
How long have you been teaching? This is my first year teaching. I have taught over the summer and done lots of tutoring. There is so much more to keep track of then I thought and I stay after school more than I hoped to.
What is your favorite part of teaching? I really like when I see a lightbulb moment in student’s brains. I love it when a student is confused and I explain it and all I hear is “Ohhhhh.”
What college did you go to and what did you study? I went to Pennsylvania State University for my bachelor degree in biochemistry and molecular biology. I also went to University of California, San Diego for a masters in biomedical science.
What do you do in your free time? Right now, I don’t have much free time, but when I do, I love to read and watch Penn State football. I also love to kayak.
What is your motto? “Work hard, play hard.” I feel like school shouldn’t only about working, you still need to have breaks. People need to take time [for] themselves.
What do you think of the digital learning system? I really like the digital learning system so far. I don’t have anything else to base teaching of off. I don’t have to change all my lesson plans or anything, I’m starting fresh. I like seeing quick results right away from quizzes. It makes grading earlier, as I can grade everywhere without holding a huge stack of papers. There have been a lot of challenges but once we work through it all, it will be much better.
What made you accept the job to work at Boone? It was fate. I had just finished my masters degree in August and I had to decide if I wanted to move on to my PhD and become a college professor or stop and teach high school. I really just wanted to teach because I enjoy it so much. My husband is a theme park coordinator and Florida allows teachers to teach without having a degree in teaching, unlike California, so I started looking for teaching jobs in Florida. I found out I got the job one week before school started and I was still in California. It look me two weeks to move everything down to Florida, so I started teaching here the second week of school.