Growing up in a large family, I never had aspirations to teach. I figured my career path was somewhere in the legal field, as I saw myself as a solid debater when dealing with my parents during my teenage years. As an elementary student, I was a handful. I was a good student, but an active and talkative one. I was never satisfied with an answer, and continually asked the question, “Why?” I had fantastic and patient teachers who helped me to learn and as I saw them as role models, I wanted to follow in their footsteps.

I graduated from Mount Saint Mary’s College in 2003 with a degree in Elementary Education. While at the Mount, I was chosen as a Maryland Association of Teacher Educators Distinguished Teaching Candidate, and was asked to speak in conjunction with the Mount Saint Mary’s Education department on a number of occasions. After leaving Mount Saint Mary’s, I was given a contract by Montgomery County Public Schools and went to work as a fifth grade teacher at Twinbrook Elementary School that August. Twinbrook is a Title I school with a diverse population of learners and a fantastic group of staff members. Many of these teachers have spent their entire careers within the building, and I would soon join their ranks. As a fifth grade teacher at Twinbrook, I served as team leader, was voted by my peers as Elected Faculty Representative to the union, wrote or co-wrote several grants that secured funding or materials for our teachers and students, and piloted our special education inclusion program. Prior to this pilot, our special education students were housed in a self-contained environment. Working alongside two outstanding special education teachers, we designed an environment and developed curriculum that would enhance the educational experience for these students and ultimately lead to their success. Not having had a background in special education, this quickly became a passion of mine. For my work in the areas of special education and assistive technology, I was selected as a recipient of the Kurzweil Educational Systems Teaching Excellence Award honorable mention.

Leaving college and entering the real world, I was struck by the importance of professional development as it related to the quality of teaching and thereby the success of students. I signed up for a plethora of county and state classes, successfully completed a masters degree program at Johns Hopkins University in educational administration and supervision, and authored curriculum while participating in a professional development partnership between MCPS and the Smithsonian Institution called The MCPS Corps of Historical Discovery. I have continually satisfied my needs as a learner and a growing professional, and have in turn shared this passion and knowledge base with the staff in my building, my colleagues around the county, the Mount Saint Mary’s School of and Human Services alumni council on which I serve, and the groups of aspiring teachers at the University of Maryland or Towson University that I have worked with.

After six years in the classroom, I parlayed my passion for teacher quality and development into my new role as a staff development teacher. I had benefitted immensely from the support of my predecessor and I was thrilled to take on this new challenge. While functioning in this capacity, I was responsible for the school improvement planning, the professional development programming, and the support of new and veteran teachers, all in an effort to maximize the achievement of our students. While I am thrilled to have been selected as a Washington Teaching Ambassador Fellow, I am saddened that I have to leave Twinbrook for a year, as everything I have done to this point in my career has been built upon my work with this community.