Teaching Candidate Statement

From a young age I believed the purpose of life was to help others. My experiences working with
children has shown me that the best and most impactful way I could help others was teaching.
My family is from Michigan but, my first memories are of living in Pennsylvania. My family lived outside
of Pittsburgh for 7 years before returning back to Michigan just in time for me to start 4th grade. Moving to a
new area was tough, I didn’t know anyone, and I had trouble making friends. Recess was awful. My brother
was in 1st grade at the time and I think his teacher could see me struggling, so she invited me to help in her
classroom during recess. Suddenly the worst part of my day turned into the best. I loved helping kids with math
and helping the teacher sort papers. I remember being so proud when I could finally decipher even the
messiest handwriting. This amazing teacher showed me that even your small actions can have an incredibly
lasting impression on a person’s life. It also taught me to always look for where you can help. I wasn’t even in
her class and she made my life so much better, that is the type of community I want to help create not just my
classroom, but in the school.
When I was in my early teens my mother started teaching 1st grade at our local elementary school. I
started going up into her classroom alot after school once I got my license. I enjoyed helping the students with
reading and seeing how creative they got during writing. No matter how tough school got, her class always
made me smile. These experiences made me realize how comfortable and happy being in the classroom was.
I started Alma College in the fall of 2016. I loved the size and atmosphere of campus, a bunch of nerds
just like me on a small campus tucked away between farm fields and forest. My freshman year I declared my
major as Elementary Education and my experience in all my placements only solidified that decision. During
my 4 years there I was in a preschool, a 3/4th split, a 5th, and 4th grade classroom. I took advantage of Alma’s
opportunities for travel and was able to receive their Venture and Posey Global grants to do a placement in a
3rd grade class in Kigali, Rwanda and teach in Hehekope, Ghana.Those experiences taught me so much
about teaching with scarce resources, adaptability, and connecting with students with a different culture than
my own..
In my free time I love rock climbing, hiking, camping. I enjoy being able to share my hobbies with
others. This is one of the reasons I have loved working at summer camps. I have gotten to lead rock climbing,
hiking, and camping trips with campers and share these amazing activities with them. Camps opened my eyes
to all the advantages of outdoor education; my classes at Alma also allowed for me to explore the benefits and
implementation of outdoor education in the classroom. I took environmental science classes and made outdoor
education my focus for research projects. If you are curious about this topic at all please let me know; I could
talk about this topic forever.
All of these experiences and so many more have made me the teacher I am today. I am an
timplementer of hands-on activities, problem based learning strategies, and real world examples. I believe in
the importance of having a positive attitude each and everyday, outdoor education, and treating students as
individuals. I believe everyone should be treated with respect, optimism, caring, and compassion. This is how I
plan to help my school, community, and students.