About Me.....
Life for me began in the small town of Jackson, Michigan. I grew up in the even smaller town of Napoleon, Michigan and graduated from Napoleon High School in June of 1989 (a LONG time ago). I received my BA in Secondary English Education from MSU in December 1993 intending to find a job teaching middle or high school English. Such was not to be the case. After substitute teaching for just over a year, I became the school librarian at Michigan Center Junior/Senior High School and completed my Masters in Library and Information Science in June 1999 at Wayne State University. I am still working at Michigan Center Jr/Sr High School but have expanded my range of "activities" to include not only running the 3 district libraries, but also being the high school yearbook advisor, the junior high yearbook advisor, Web Design and New Technologies teacher, as well as Computer Science Discoveries instructor. In addition to my teaching duties, I am also in charge of the community newsletter (News and Views), and web master for many of the district web pages, and pretty much anything else they come up with.
I love my job (most days). It's the inability to predict just what is going to happen next that makes it so enjoyable. Even the craziest day can seem worthwhile when someone brings you something they consider to be a catastrophe, and you are able to work out all the bugs and make it work.
I have been happily married to Chris Van de Water (also a Napoleon grad., Class of 1987) since June 1996. On April 27, 2000 our lives changed. Our daughter, Kathryn Amara, was born. Kat graduated from MC in 2018 and from Michigan State University in May 2023.
Life for me began in the small town of Jackson, Michigan. I grew up in the even smaller town of Napoleon, Michigan and graduated from Napoleon High School in June of 1989 (a LONG time ago). I received my BA in Secondary English Education from MSU in December 1993 intending to find a job teaching middle or high school English. Such was not to be the case. After substitute teaching for just over a year, I became the school librarian at Michigan Center Junior/Senior High School and completed my Masters in Library and Information Science in June 1999 at Wayne State University. I am still working at Michigan Center Jr/Sr High School but have expanded my range of "activities" to include not only running the 3 district libraries, but also being the high school yearbook advisor, the junior high yearbook advisor, Web Design and New Technologies teacher, as well as Computer Science Discoveries instructor. In addition to my teaching duties, I am also in charge of the community newsletter (News and Views), and web master for many of the district web pages, and pretty much anything else they come up with.
I love my job (most days). It's the inability to predict just what is going to happen next that makes it so enjoyable. Even the craziest day can seem worthwhile when someone brings you something they consider to be a catastrophe, and you are able to work out all the bugs and make it work.
I have been happily married to Chris Van de Water (also a Napoleon grad., Class of 1987) since June 1996. On April 27, 2000 our lives changed. Our daughter, Kathryn Amara, was born. Kat graduated from MC in 2018 and from Michigan State University in May 2023.