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Hi everyone,

Sorry for being late to the party! Above is a picture of my wife and I with her brother and his girlfriend taken this summer in Yellowstone National Park.  We visited this park with Tiff's entire family during our move from Los Angeles to St. Paul.  We'd lived the last 10 years in LA and decided to come back to be closer to family, so having them with us during the road trip was a really special experience. Tiff and I really love nature and the outdoors so it's a pretty good snapshot of how we like to spend our free time anyway.

I'm currently working as a Literacy Interventionist at Hiawatha College Prep - Northrup, a small charter school in south Minneapolis. Prior to this job I've worked as a Spanish Teacher, a high school ELA teacher and in an administrative role at my previous district. I'm thrilled to be here starting this new journey.

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Pictured above is my husband, my 3 year old son and myself. My son and I just got back from a visit to Texas to meet up with my husband who is deployed in El Paso, Texas. We meet in Dallas and stayed with my cousin. It was a wonderful time. When I started the reading license program with Hamline, we did not know he would be deployed so needless to say this has been an adventure.

On a professional level, I am a middle school special education teacher. I used to teach special education at our elementary and intermediate levels. I tease some of my students who I have known since second grade that I will follow them to high school too. Recently, I was asked by one of my colleagues if I enjoyed working with middle schoolers or if I would like to go back to the elementary/intermediate level. My response was, I love working with students of any age as I just want to teach them how to read, write and feel success.

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My name is Tracy Clark. I have an undergraduate in Corrections and Sociology (I wanted to be a prison warden). After working in Juvenile corrections for a while, I wanted better salary, benefits, and hours so I moved to a school and handled disciplinary issues. I eventually went back to school to gain my masters in Special Education EBD and then attained my SLD licensure. I have worked with K-12 students in setting I, II, III, IV and V. I teach in the Anoka-Hennepin School District. An amazing opportunity opened up for me to move from special education into the reading department. I am very excited to start this new journey !

The photo I am attaching is of my family as we celebrated my dad's 86th birthday. This photo reminds me how precious time is and to spend it wisely.

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Hello! My name is Robert. I am currently a special education teacher in the Wayzata School district. I have held various roles in education, including resource teacher, interventionist and peer coach. I always find myself spending extra time on academic interventions, especially literacy. I am getting my K-12 reading license to help fuel that desire. When I am not teaching I am the parent of an adult daughter and a 13 year old son. I love being active! Rock climbing, camping, hiking, biking- basically anything in nature! Looking forward to connecting with everyone in class and learning from each of you!

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Hello!

My name is Cassy and I am a high school English teacher. For the last three years I have been teaching at Central High School in Norwood Young America. Originally I LOVED it. However, many things in the past two years led me to resign about a month ago. I don't know what I will be doing next year, but I am applying for other teaching jobs now. I am currently in the MALED program at Hamline and I am working on my thesis as we speak!

This photo is of my husband (almost four years married) and I just last week. We went on a spring break trip to Mexico, and I loved it. Usually we go on road trips to national parks across the country, so this was only like my second time flying! My favorite national park is Glacier, and I highly recommend that everyone check it out before the glaciers are all gone.

Another fun fact about me is that I can do hair really well. I do updos for proms and weddings (or I did, pre-pandemic) and I love doing it!

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Hi all! I am currently working as a substitute teacher as I renew my secondary communication arts and literature license. My path to teaching has been full of stops and starts, and though I have a steep learning curve ahead, I know I am headed in the right direction. I have been a stay-at-home parent for the last 9 years filling my days with the adventures of Delaney (10) and Renner (7). During this time I have also volunteered through Reading Partners, coached soccer and worked as a freelance copywriter. My evenings and weekends are spent cheering on my kids in basketball and hockey, enjoying the outdoors, and curling up with a good book.

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Hi everyone! My name is Mary, and I am an EL teacher at Deerwood Elementary in Eagan. This is my 6th year of teaching and my 3rd year in Eagan. I am getting my Master's in Literacy Education because I have found that many of my EL students lack basic literacy skills because most of their peers learned how to read in a less explicit manner. My students just need more direct instruction in the process of learning how to read. When I'm not teaching, I love to go on walks and hikes around MN and WI. My favorite places usually include mountains though. I'd go to Banff, Alberta every year if I could, but last summer I visited CO for the first time, and I loved that! I also love riding my road bike, cooking, reading, watching tv shows (all the Marvel ones are my favorite), and spending time with family and friends.

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Hi! My name is David and I teach EL at Ella Baker (aka Jefferson) Community School in South Minneapolis. And yes my colleagues and I are still on strike but hoping we will soon be back in the classrooms. I have a passion for teaching literacy and believe it is the key to academic success. For the last six years I have been reading books to help me better understand the turbulent world we currently reside. I am a strong advocate for equity at my school and in my community. My wife Kasia (seen here) is from Poland and we met when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the early '90s. We have four adult children and one grandchild. This is a picture of me and my beautiful wife in Sequoia National Park with the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background. We love traveling and spending time outdoors.

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Hi! My name is Kelly and I am a teacher turned stay-at-home mom. I taught 1st grade for seven years and 2nd grade for four years. I have taught in both Virginia and Minnesota. I am not sure of exactly when I want to return to teaching or in what capacity, but I have always loved teaching literacy so getting my reading endorsement seemed like a good next step. I have twin daughters who are 6 1/2 and love being in kindergarten. I spend most of my time doing mom things but I also love reading, running, TV, and movies. The picture I posted is from our visit to the New Brighton ice castles this winter.

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Hi, my name is Madalynn. This is my sixth year of teaching middle school ELA in SPPS. The past three years I have taught eighth graders and I really love how weird they are, as well as how much growth they experience during our time together. My go-to genres are sci-fi and fantasy, though I’m currently reading the memoir “Crying in H Mart” written by one of my favorite musicians, Michelle Zauner. In addition to books and music, I greatly enjoy spending time outdoors with my dog.

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Hi! I (not pictured because I am always behind the camera) am your adjunct instructor for the course this Spring. I am a former middle and high school English teacher, currently working as a literacy consultant for Mackin Learning. I have a son (a junior in college) and daughter (senior in high school). My husband is a 7th grade American Studies teacher. While we are soon to be empty-nesters, we will have our spoiled dog Teddy around for hopefully many more years. Fun Facts--I coach high school speech and volunteer for our church youth group so I can get my "fix" of adolescents. I learn and grow so much from the teens I get to spend time with. My preferred genre is memoir, but I love picture books too. And my guilty pleasure is "Below Deck"--it's a train wreck of a reality TV show, but I just can't look away.