As the saying goes, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could." Two months after I was born at the Fort Benning army base in Columbus, Ga., my mom and I relocated to her hometown in Olton, Texas while my dad was deployed to Vietnam. After his tour of duty, my family eventually moved to Georgetown, Texas, where I graduated from high school. After graduating from McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, my teaching career began in Bryan, Texas where I first taught middle school reading. I then taught second and fourth grade and served as an at-risk specialist. While teaching in Bryan, I earned a master's degree in educational psychology from Texas A&M University and an endorsement in gifted and talented education. I was selected as the 2005 Houston regional winner of the H-E-B Excellence in Education Award in the leadership category for elementary school teachers and my class was recognized as a KBTX "Bright Smiles Class of the Week." Three years ago, I relocated to the scenic Austin area to be closer to family in Georgetown and to teach in Leander Independent School District.

Encouraging and teaching children has been a part of my summers and free time. For four summers, I worked as a "Kid's Club wrangler" at Wind River Ranch, a Christian family guest ranch in Estes Park, Colo. I also worked as a "Sea Camp counselor" at Texas A&M University in Galveston, and I spent many years in children's music ministry. I also helped young author Noah McCullough and am credited in two of his books, The Essential Book of Presidential Trivia and First Kids: The True Stories of All the Presidents' Children.

At McMurry University, I was a preceptor in the pilot program, "Servant Leadership," that has grown into the McMurry Servant Leadership Center of the Southwest. In 2005, I was selected to serve on the Servant Leadership Alumni Council and have been the vice-chair, secretary, and chair of this alumni council. Servant leadership has been a thread throughout my career including district leadership positions as grade level chair and district committees on gifted and talented education, language arts, technology, science, and data. My students learn servant leadership through classroom service projects such as care packages to soldiers, recycling projects, school supply collections for Medico, and donations to animal shelters.

I've had the wonderful opportunity to open two new elementary campuses. In 1997, I opened Robert C. Neal Elementary in the Bryan Independent School District and, in 2007, I opened Grandview Hills Elementary in the Leander Independent School District, which is in the process of becoming an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme school. One thing I have learned during my 17 years of teaching is that the most important lesson you teach is to inspire students to be persons of character and to love learning. I teach students that they can either be a lifter, someone who makes those around them better, or a leaner, someone who drags others down.