As a City-Wide Guest Teacher for CPS, it is my privilege and pleasure to work in schools all over the great City of Chicago and with students of all ages. One day, I find myself supporting a PreK teacher leading a “bubble party” (supporting sensory and social development) and the next day I find myself in a classroom where HS Seniors are discussing gender dynamics in short stories. Each day brings me to a new neighborhood, a new school and/or a new set of students. I am an adventurous person, so this position suits me well.

I hold a Professional Teaching License through the state of IL and am endorsed in: HS English/Language Arts, HS Psychology, Middle School ELA & Social Studies, and self-contained K-8. I have previous experience working in Special Education and Early Childhood. In the next year, I hope to be finishing coursework for a Business Ed/Computer Literacy endorsement.

In addition to being an educator, I am a bit of an autodidact. I am currently working on biographical research of a person who was born in Russian Occupied Poland in 1912 and lived in Vienna, the Netherlands, Germany, and Argentina before immigrating to American in 1961. A previous research project focused on conceptualizing Ancient Israel and Christian Scriptures. I really love learning.

I also enjoy being creative. I have dabbled in creative writing, painting, and photography. These practices have brought me joy and also led me to opportunities to be involved with community organizing, mutual aid, and activism efforts.

I spent a period of time out of the education field, primarily in care-taking roles. When I returned to the classroom, I encountered big changes in TechEd. So, when an opportunity arose for me to enroll in a program at Harold Washington College which included design/business/tech classes, I knew it was the right move for me. In my computer arts class, I learned how to use my photography to design book covers and how to design journal pages and graphic organizers for low & mid-content books. So, I started “As Yourself Journals” to share my journaling practice and love of learning with others.