My Priorities.
Dedication to teaching and teachers
I come to my dedication to teaching honestly. My dad was an educator for nearly 40 years and I have been a teacher in several communities in public schools and have spent time in a charter school and teaching abroad in Sweden. I have found one truism in 20 years of teaching- good teachers work to serve every child.
My colleagues and I teach our students who absorb knowledge like sponges, and our students who need a lot more time and patience to learn. We do not choose who walks through the door, the homes from which they come, or the trauma they endure. We take them all, teach them all and love them all.
Early Childhood Education matters, and good teachers at every level make a huge difference.
As a teacher of students from 3 to 18 years over 20 years, I can tell you the value of consistent, quality learning at every age. Children deserve and thrive with attention from professional and knowledgable adults.
Learning to read opens doors for early learners and beyond. Quality reading instruction can help struggling readers, and those to whom reading comes more easily.
The power of opportunity
My grandfather was a hard worker, and managed to regularly attend school through 8th grade which was quite common in rural areas in throughout the first half of the 20th century. Just one generation later, my dad was able to not only go to college, but earn a master’s degree and a doctorate degree because of the opportunities afforded him in the 1960’s - 1980’s.
I think that those who are ready to learn, and want to build knowledge and skills and become teachers should get that chance.