In Short
I have lived my life by responding to the call to ‘go and make disciples of all nations.’ In digital strategies, we go to meet people where they are, which is more and more online. But I also see that the place where the next generation is right now, is at school!
My vision for teaching is to serve the need for quality science education, which includes being a caring adult in hundreds of students’ lives. The research on the positive effects of one teacher who cares is inspiring to me. I have seen in my own children’s lives how a good teacher can transform their school experience and shape their interests.
To teach in the public schools for me is a chance to love my neighbor as myself. I was blessed with excellent schools, with classmates and teachers who had a profound influence on my faith and life. I hope to invest myself, enriched with these many undeserved opportunities, into the next generations.
The Long Story
When I was 12 years old, I dramatically broke my arm. The interesting x-ray led me to a desire to work in the medical field. I ended up studying biochemistry at Colorado College, and worked in many different medical settings. During college, I was also blessed with opportunities to live in African-American communities, and study the Bible together with people of varied American and international cultures. My vision at the end of college was to become a primary care doctor in an under-served urban area.
However, God used Eric and his love for Russia to call me into student ministry with the students of Siberia. I continued to enjoy learning new cultures with the many different people groups of Russia. As we studied the Bible together, I was better able to see my own culture, as well as the truths God gives to all peoples. I was richly blessed by living in Russian culture and by our organization’s and expat communities. The flexibility we had to balance parenthood and ministry enabled us to fully invest in raising our children in another country. Through all these years, I felt a strong desire for medical study, but heard clearly from God that it wasn’t my calling. I hoped that someday it would be!
While my children attended the international school in Saint Petersburg, I was asked to teach high school chemistry. This was a new idea to me, but intriguing, so I agreed to try. I was surprised by how much I loved my students, and grew to appreciate the subject of chemistry even more than I had in the past. The affirmation I received from other teachers, parents and students was encouraging as well. Whether nature or nurture, it seems that being raised by teachers gave me an ability to engage effectively with students!
Along with teaching one class of chemistry each year, I continued to pursue other opportunities in our organization, including life coaching, crisis management and data analytics. I also had the flexibility to invest in team and community relationships, develop my artwork and what I consider my spiritual gift of giving massages :) Through the process of Life-Purpose Coaching in 2015, I realized that my gifts, passions and experience pointed toward investing myself in teaching science. Among my many vocational interests, this was the only one which would not involve disrupting my family’s life with an international move!
As I continued teaching, I also continued to learn about mental health, and specifically the field of social-emotional learning, which includes preventative mental health, social skills and character building in schools. Because many people with mental health needs will not seek out help, public schools are an ideal place for trained professionals to provide a foundation of healthy practices. And classroom teachers already know that the emotional state of their students is vitally important for real learning to occur! This led to the opportunity to lead a Social-Emotional Learning team at our school… which then put me in a place to serve as the Principal Liaison when borders remained closed. I had been encouraged by my spiritual director to take one step in the direction that I felt passionate about, and it seemed God flung open one door after another.
However, the instability in our visa situation starting with an investigation in December 2020 was unsettling. As we looked at our kids’ needs for stability through their high school years, we naturally evaluated our own sense of calling. For my part, even though I was thriving in my unexpected role at the international school, the idea of being able to serve in under-resourced communities in the States was very compelling. I believe our disparate public schools are both the source and result of inequality in our country. But I also see them as a place of tremendous opportunity. This was just my piece of the puzzle, but Eric and I felt that moving to Orlando was the best choice for everyone, considering the circumstances.
The last six months have been a wonderful space for me to be available to shepherd our family through transition. Without many formal responsibilities, I have continued serving our school in Russia in a few small ways. I have been available for driving our kids, including getting everyone through the medical/dental/vision/counseling appointments that we needed to catch up on! Taking the initiative to build new local friendships has also been a priority, along with getting in good physical shape.
Through a Cru City friend, I found a volunteering opportunity in a nearby school. It was again affirming that I was able to engage effectively with students at a large, diverse public school, and actually enjoy the process immensely! However, the difficulty of arranging volunteering indicated to me that if I wanted to teach next year, I should seek out opportunities this spring. Eric and I recognize that our own kids’ needs might be pretty high for the next few years. So I wasn’t confident that a teaching position even 30 minutes drive away was a good choice.
At the prompting of friends this winter, I began considering the idea of teaching at our kids’ school. My life would be more integrated with my teenagers, instead of being drawn away in time and energy and new relationships. As I began to consider this, two science positions opened at our kids' high school! I didn’t yet have the state document stating my ‘eligibility for certification’, so I missed the application period. But I went ahead and asked our school's volunteer coordinator about volunteering. (These types of email to other schools in the fall had gone unanswered.) But within 15 minutes of sending this one, I received a reply, asking if I was interested in a job!
In two days, I met with the school administration to discuss whether I would be interested in a full-time Anatomy and Physiology teaching position. (While I enjoyed chemistry, I never knew that a person could teach full time only the most interesting part of science!)
Eric and I feel that this opportunity is tailor-made for me. So, over the course of the last few weeks, I have applied, been offered the job and gone through the school district’s steps for employment. It is a great situation, with a very collaborative lead teacher (who happens to be Tim’s favorite at the school). He, and our next door neighbor (who happens to be the head of the Biology department) have been helping me plan and get organized. Tomorrow I start my orientation to the school, and I will be in the classroom on Thursday!
The future
I would love to further God's kingdom by bringing quality science education to students, along with the chance to show them His love. My ultimate vision is to work at schools in lower socioeconomic communities, as they have a greater need for teachers. But I know that I have much to learn to be an effective teacher at a large school, and even more so if I’m teaching cross-culturally. So Lord willing, while we still have kids in high school (only 3 ½ more years!) I hope to teach at their school. We will see what opportunities open up as I go. I would be happy to invest in social-emotional learning as a science classroom teacher, or perhaps in other roles that I’m looking forward to discovering!
