>> So I started out as an elementary school teacher.
I graduated from UD.
I student-taught in Colonial School District.
And I worked there for about five years as a teacher in a few different schools.
And I started to obtain some leadership positions.
In the summer school programs as teacher leader or after school programs, things like that.
Then somewhere along the way I went back and got my Master's at another university.
And then it got, I went back and got my administrative degree.
And so I was talking to my, a mentor principal, and she encouraged me to go
into the principalship [phonetic], and so I applied for an assistant principal job.
I was an assistant principal for two years, and then principal for four years at one school.
And then moved over to another school as principal for four years.
And then another school for a year.
And then after that I applied for and became director of schools.
And so it's been a quick path to where I am right now.
And a very interesting path.
I think, you know, becoming a, I went to UD and I had a great,
strong educational background in Pedagogian [phonetic ]
practice, and so that helped me to successfully become, I think, a pretty teacher.
Good enough to recognize by my peers and my supervisors along the way.
And then I just took opportunities as they came up.
For that, I really may not been initially kind
of the people you would say would be qualified for.
For example, my first leadership role
in the district was essentially becoming a principal of a summer school.
They call it a teacher leader, but the same concept.
And I had applied for this position after only having taught a year and a half.
A teacher a year and half.
Summer school.
I needed a job for the summer, and so I applied.
They interviewed me.
They thought I did good enough, so they said alright, you're in charge.
So I'm 24, 25 years old, and what that means is, you have to recruit and hire staff.
You have to recruit students to be in the summer program.
You has develop curriculum.
You have to work with a budget.
You have to work with payroll.
You have to supervise them throughout the program.
You have to work with nutrition services.
You have to work with transportation and basically coordinate this whole program.
And run the summer school.
And so, that's what I did.