Hi and let me welcome you again to Munsch's Musings
Profession:
I have been teaching now for nine years. I came to the teaching profession as a second career. I previously worked in newspaper and cable advertising. I have also worked in retail sales and management, but I did not find true joy in the work place until I answered the call to teach.
Schools I attended:
Sacred Heart of Jesus School St.Francis, Wisconsin
Saint Francis High School St. Francis, Wisconsin
Milwaukee Area Technical College Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Silver Lake College Manitowoc, Wisconsin
I am currently teaching ninth grade English Survey and eleventh grade American Literature. The students at Saint Anne are awesome. There is never a day that goes by that I am not amazed at their ability, creativity, and desire to achieve. In addition to my classroom duties I am also a New Teacher Mentor in our building, and I am facilating and teaching an ACT Prep course.
In the past nine years I have helped write a new English curriculum for St. Anne, I have taught Journalism and Yearbook and helped the students produce and publish the yearbook for three years.
While teaching at my first assignment at Wilson Junior High School in Manitowoc, Wisconsin I was a drama coach, produced the school play and was an assistant forensics coach. These have been some of the highlights I have enjoyed and am always excited to see what new opportunities the future will bring.
My Family:
I am so blessed to be married to a wonderful, supportive husband who believes in me and encourages my pursuits.
John and I share five daughters. My step-daughters are Traci, Teri, and Toni. And my girls are Emily and Amanda.
We have two son-in-laws Brad and Doug. Our children are all grown and actively living there lives and pursuing their own dreams. All of the girls are college grads. The three older girls work in the business sector, Emily works at a law firm and is in school working toward a Paralegal degree. Amanda is a certified social worker and working on her Masters degree. Brad is a History teacher and Doug works in the non-profit sector. We are proud of their accomplishments and are always excited to hear about the happenings in their lives. They are truly the jewels in my tapestry of life.
There is one other member of our family that came to live with us about six years ago. He is a Blue Tick Beagle named Buddy. We rescued him from a local shelter and can't imagine life without him! He was an abused animal before we got him but with love and lots of attention he is now a very happy dog!
Hobbies and Interests
It probably goes without saying that I love to read and I love to write. I am currently reading two books. And generally read a large number on young adult books each year to stay current with the literature my students are reading. I also read magazines. My favorites are Smithsonian Magizine and Country Living. My other reading passion is the newspaper on Sunday mornings with breakfast.
I majored in Art in High School and studied Graphic and Applied Arts at MATC so art and creativity are important to me. I love to draw, paint, craft, and turn what my husband would call "trash to treasures". My most resent project was an old dollhouse I tranformed into a Christmas gingerbread house. I am also restoring an antique quilt that dates back to the 1930's. It was an auction find for $3.00!
My favorite board game is Scrabble. My favorite movies are "Music of the Heart", "It's a Wonderful Life", and "Lean on Me". John and I share a love of music and have almost every genre represented in our collection.
In addition to all that I enjoy cooking and baking, gardening, decorating, and traveling.
This is a view of the Atlantic ocean at Tybee Beach. We spent the day swimming, gathering sand dollars, sea shells ,and watching the fishermen try to catch something off the pier. We saw a jellyfish( avoided it!) and a school of young stingrays that had made their way into the beach area just 50 feet from the shore.(We moved out of their way too!) This ocean and it's inhabitants were fascinating. We can't wait to go back.
