I'm excited to be returning for my fourteenth year at Ardrey Kell, and my seventeenth year teaching. I can't tell you how proud I am to be an AK original!
Currently I am teaching English IV and Honors English IV. I also sponsor the writing club and its efforts to restart the school newspaper,The Ardrey Kell Chronicle, and the literary magazine, The Round Table. I came to AK from South Florida, where I taught English and Newspaper for several years in Hollywood, FL. I hold a bachelor's degree from UNCG in English and Spanish, as well as a master's degree from FAU in Reading Education. I am passionate about literature and writing, and I look forward to working with my students to enhance their appreciation of literature and to develop their writing skills. On a personal note, I come from a varied background. The product of a Tennessee dad and a lovely Spaniard, I grew up overseas, specifically in central West Germany (as it was called then), where my father was in civil service for the United States Air Force. (Yes, I was living there when the Berlin Wall finally came down, though we moved shortly before reunification.) This childhood was a unique opportunity as it allowed me to travel in ways I only dream of now. My favorite vacation spot was, of course, Spain, where most of my relatives lived. After graduating from an American high school in Kaiserslautern, Germany, I moved to Greensboro, where I lived for six years, four of them in UNCG dorm rooms. In 1998 I moved with my parents and sister to Florida, where I met my husband and had my children. After eight years of flat land and almost no signs of seasonal change, other than hurricanes, we were through with the Sunshine State and headed north. Palm trees are great when you're on vacation, but the Carolina woods and hills called me back. Fortunately, we are beginning my absolute favorite time of year, the autumn, when I can get my fill of apple picking, silly Halloween costumes, pumpkin pie, crisp leaves, cool air and, finally, holiday cheer. I moved up here with my husband (a former chef--we eat well!), a host of in-laws (yes, that's a good thing), and my two children. Rebekah is an AK graduate set to start her sophomore year at Appalachian State University, so this is a year of adjustment for me. My son Daniel is now a junior at AK. To round out my happiness, my sister and my parents, after years of my pleading, finally left Florida to live up here so that I can be surrounded by family. We make our home in Union County, where I am struggling to raise a garden. So far I do very well with herbs (fresh are necessary for us!) and peppers. I usually do great with tomatoes, but some horrible, enormous green thing that probably wants to call itself a caterpillar has literally eaten an entire plant, so I may be settling for store-bought 'maters this year. |
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