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I stumbled into education. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say education crashed into me. Either way, all I know is I definitely had other plans when I strode across the stage on my 22nd birthday, accepted my college diploma, and launched into the much-vaunted world of adulthood. Let’s just say it was not what I expected. After five soul-sucking years in my profession of choice, I found myself unemployed, disillusioned, and swimming in debt. So much for my meticulously laid plans. I suppose I should have read more Robert Burns because I certainly felt like that mouse in his poem: all my plans had been overturned. A heartfelt conversation with my mentor led me to a substitute teacher training course. After all, I had to earn a living while I was figuring out life again at the ripe old age of 27.

 
After my training, I accepted a long-term position in a new middle school teaching 7th grade English. I found myself returning to school (just not grad school!) on a misty August day. I walked into my barren classroom, posted myself at the door at the sound of the first bell, nodded at the 23 adolescent scholars who filed past me (no smiles til December, they told me), and waited for magic to happen. And it DID! I entered the classroom that day with a JOB and I left with a CALLING. Seeing the energy and excitement (and wrestling with the apathy and angst) birthed in me the conviction that quality education had to made available to ALL students. This conviction is the foundation upon which my work is built.

 
Twenty-three years (and counting) in education has shown me that our current modus operandi does not work for all students. Despite decades of slogans, I still saw far too many students struggle for success in an outdated system that was not responsive to their unique needs. I saw the need for change, and I set out to do just that. I wanted to create a system that allowed students, schools, homes, and communities to work together to build a learning environment where everyone could contribute and thrive and so TEACH Educational Consulting, LLC was born.

At TEACH, the focus is on the strengths and interests every student brings to the classroom. We use those foundations to help teachers and schools increase engagement and strengthen learning. Home and community become partners in the process to make learning practical and applicable. The goal is to transform education by empowering all members of the learning community make a positive change in their lives and in the lives of those around them. It’s a massive goal, but I am still convinced that the children are worth it.
I still get that thrill in my stomach on the first day of school and I still come alive learning how to be a better teacher for the students I serve. Education truly IS a calling and I believe that if we learn to TEACH from the HEART, we can create an educational system that does a better job of providing quality for every student in every classroom on every day. It’s a journey worth taking.