I have always had a lingering passion in the back of my mind to become a teacher because I enjoyed working with other people.  After I graduated from West Georgia with a B.B.A. in Business Management, I intended to go to culinary school to become a chef. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I realized it was not the path for me.  I worked as a manager in the retail field for several years before I decided to go back to school, get my master’s degree, and make an impact on our future through our students.

I was influenced by my A.P. Calculus teacher, my English teacher my junior year of high school, and my husband.  They all taught me about the importance of not just surviving, but thriving in the real world.  They taught me how to make a difficult subject fun and care for my students.  They taught me to appreciate the fundamentals.  They taught me that education is not just in the classroom, but a chance to influence and impart life lessons to my students.

I thoroughly believe that teaching students with real-world situations, group activities, collaborative learning, and teamwork will benefit them more than anything else they can learn in school.  Those “soft skills” are just as important as actual facts, structures, and processes that we teach students.  Businesses are hiring students and graduates that have interpersonal skills, teamwork skills, problem solving, and communication skills that I will teach through the standards, which will benefit all students. 

In conclusion, I believe that I bring a passion and commitment to education that will benefit myself, my students, my school, and my community.  I will use research-based strategies to help my students learn the standards and life skills that will allow them to not only survive after school, but thrive. I believe that I am the type of teacher that can see the benefits of what I teach, and I strongly believe that students will be better off having learned business education standards and soft skills in a collaborative setting. Students deserve to be taught by teachers that love what they teach and bring that passion and drive into the classroom. I am passionate about teaching and about the benefits of business education.