My father was in the Air Force and stationed in Arizona when I was born. I graduated from kindergarten in Germany, elementary school in South Carolina, junior high school in Maryland, high school in Minnesota, and college in Missouri. My undergraduate degree was earned at the University of Missouri, and my graduate degree was earned at Columbia College.
After getting married in 1973, I put down roots on a farm in Missouri. My husband, Ron, and I have one son, Joe. We grow row crops, hay, and livestock.
Throughout the years, I have tutored, substituted, and taught all ages from preschool through adult. I began teaching in the junior/senior high school special education classroom at Community R-VI in 1999. Another special education teacher was added to the faculty in 2000, so our program was able to evolve from being totally self contained in the special education classroom to becoming mostly fully included in the general education classroom. Now, I spend about half of the school day providing special education services in the regular education classroom. Most of my special education paperwork is completed outside of school hours.
I became an eMINTS 4 All teacher in 2008. Presently, nearly all of Community R-VI's junior and senior high school classrooms have interactive whiteboards. Students have access to school computers and wireless laptops for most classes.
