Hello! I am so happy to be a part of IVES! I began my career in education with a Masters in Educational Leadership with aspirations to be Community Education Director. My husband and I made our first significant move to Texas and I quickly discovered I was going to need to find a new direction. I went back to school for a Masters in Special Education and began teaching. Several moves and teaching positions later, I decided I was ready to go back to school, this time for a Masters in Reading and Literacy. I loved being a Reading Specialist. I left my job to stay home with my kiddos while they were little to offer stability through many Army moves and deployments. As I thought about re-entering education, I knew I wanted to do more in the field of reading, and wanted to specialize and hone my skills. Coincidentally, my eldest had entered school and was not making reading growth as expected. These two factors combined, lead me to head back to school to become a Certified Academic Language Therapist. I love working with kiddos, assessing their needs and providing intervention to help them reach their full potential. I live for those light bulb moments, the look in a student’s eyes and the smile on her/his face when the pieces of the reading code start to fall into place.