>> 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.