Currently, I am teaching. I entered the field of teaching as a “permanent substitute” without any prior educational background in the field. Since then, in May 2009, I obtained a Master’s degree in Multicategorical Special Education and full licensure to teach grades 5-adult from West Virginia University. Throughout my years of teaching and studying the field, I have worked with sixth, seventh and eighth graders in the subjects of math, science, language arts, reading and social studies. In response to my teacher evaluations and administrative feedback, the Berkeley County Director of Special Education, Dr. G. Ronald Brown, nominated me to partake in the Special Education Teacher Leadership Academy during the summer of 2009 whereby I learned a about a vast spectrum of twenty-first century technological and interactive tools to utilize in the classroom. I was among a few state teachers to be selectively chosen for this leadership academy. My participation in this teacher leadership academy helped me to also be chosen for another prestigious professional development training titled, Reading and Language Arts Strategies for Middle School Students conducted by the West Virginia Department Education.
Along with being an active educator in the classroom, I have also been an active member in the West Virginia Education Association (WVEA). I have held positions on state committees such as the Minority Diversity Leadership Committee and the Public Relations Committee. In both committees, I have dedicated to serving public educators across the state by giving positive recognition to the field of education and the benefits that the association provides. On the local level, I have been elected as the Vice President for the Berkeley County Education Association and serve as the Membership Committee Chair as well as a member of the local association’s Political Action Committee. Because of my active participation in the association on the local and state level, I have been selected to attend annual leadership conferences throughout the nation. I have also been elected as a state and national delegate to represent Berkeley County on a state level and the state of West Virginia on a national level at association assemblies.
Aside from my academic and professional experiences, I find time to serve the community. Since 2004, I was mentor in the Big Brother Big Sister program and am still actively involved with supporting the program with my time and monetary donations. My mentoring in this program taught me how important it is to be a role model for our youth in society. In 2007, I became the proud founder of Girl Time, which is an after-school program held at Martinsburg South Middle School, which is used as a vehicle to teach young girl lessons in morals, values, manners, social skills and proper etiquette. In essence, Girl Time is a community-based sorority, which emphasizes the importance of giving back to the community by helping those in need while demonstrating self-respect and good will. This year, Girl Time collaborated with Destiny Baptist Church and the Samaritan Purse Operation Christmas Child program into to provide gifts and necessities to children around the world in poverty stricken countries. In turn, the girls learned the difference between needs and wants along with gaining an understanding how blessed they are to have the ability to be able to give to those truly in need while developing a sense of sisterhood. In May of 2009, I was nominated and presented with the Corma A. Mowery Award by the West Virginia Education Association for the advancement of women’s leadership due to the implementation of Girl Time.
