Mandy

*I take reservations by appointment only at this time. My availability is limited. If you'd like to schedule a class, please message me to discuss availability.* Hello! How exciting to be part of this unique experience! My name is Mandy and I've had a very diverse background, personally and professionally. Growing up on a farm and raising cattle gave me a great foundation in my early years. While I loved farm life, I was always interested in what the world was like outside my little community. Being able to travel with my school to England, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece kicked off a love of history, culture, and exploration. This experience drove me to be eighth in my high school graduating class and to enter a local university. After changing my major several times, I settled on a newly offered degree in Agriculture - Food Plant Management. I specialized in dairy foods production and worked at area dairy manufacturing plants during college. After college, my plans with a certain company fell through and I ended up taking an administrative position with a Fortune 500 company. I became the administrative assistant to the branch manager and began a career I enjoyed. I was responsible for a wide variety of duties from basic office tasks to human resources, employee relations, business writing, organizing events, planning domestic and international travel, and working with associates in countries across the world during my employment. After the birth of our son, I stayed home to care for him and worked as a transcriptionist during that time. When our son started school, I became a substitute teacher within the district and found my true calling in education. I began as a sub and for three years taught all grades and subjects, sometimes for extended periods. An opportunity to be an aide to a student with special needs was presented to me and I gladly accepted. I worked one-on-one with this student and learned a huge amount about the autism spectrum, dyslexia, ADHD, and other disabilities. Eventually, I became the teaching assistant for the entire special education department and now work with multiple students, both in groups and individually. I specialize in English and reading and have found it to be my true passion in life. While I do not officially have a degree in education or English, my natural love for English and reading and my extensive business background have made me the chosen teacher for those subjects within our department, and I have a great mentor who is my supervising teacher. There's nothing like watching students obtain a true understanding of English and reading, and sharing my love of those subjects is one of the greatest privileges of my life. I can't wait to share my knowledge and passion with those around the world while meeting new people and learning about different cultures. I look forward to this challenging opportunity!

Some of my personal interests include travel, photography, and history. I'm an avid reader and have an interest in many subjects, including world and cultural events. By traveling to other countries, having my parents host foreign exchange students, and working with individuals around the world, I feel I have a diverse and unique perspective many others in my area do not. I also have an uncle who has worked for the United Nations, lives in the Ukraine, and has a family in that country. I enjoy photography and have been won several awards in various contests over the last few years. I primarily do landscape, architectural, and animal photography, but occasionally dabble in portrait photography. I consider myself to funny and lighthearted but also direct and honest. I'm a natural klutz, so I'm often dropping things, tripping, or falling. This is a source of great amusement to my family! Many people say I'm a good storyteller and writer, and I've become well known in the area for the real-life conversations and stories I post on social media. Many of these conversations and stories centered on my late grandmother, who was one of the funniest women alive. We would have hilarious conversations, and I began sharing them as a way to stay in touch with family. Eventually, this branched out so much that friends and neighbors became acquainted with the crazy life I experienced with my grandmother. I'm incredibly thankful I shared those memories on social media because now that she has passed, I get to enjoy and share those precious times whenever I wish. Currently, I enjoy sharing some of the things that happen in our classroom. My students are some of the funniest kids on the planet and the things they say and do are too good not to share with others. I never identify the students, but sometimes they like knowing that I've written about them. Another popular topic upon which to write is family life. We live on a farm and my husband owns a tractor repair business on our property. We have all kinds of adventures both personally and with our customers that I like to share. I've found that it's much better to laugh about some of the things that happen to us than to cry about them. My vast interests and personality make me a good fit to teach people of all backgrounds and skill levels, and I look forward to benefiting from new people and learning about other countries and languages.