So.... Who am I??

The question is asked every year of my sophomores in BioScience Survey - so I better answer it here.

I am..... a native of Ventura, the daughter of amazing parents, the eldest of three kids.I am.... the mother of Benjamin Curtis who was born on the first day of school, August 23, 2006 and the wife of Dean Butler, married in September 1999. I am a graduate of Junipero Serra, Anacapa Middle School, Ventura High School, Wheaton College (BS in Biology), California State University Northridge (MA in Educational Leadership & Administration). I am.... a musician (vocals), a traveller, a backpacker, a really good shopper, a really good cook and a knitter/seamstress. I am artistic, creative, logical, a big picture thinker, a person who loves to discover new connections between ideas, a designer of experiences and a believer in the potential of people. I am effervescent, optimistic, rather funny, spontaneous. I am an ENFP.

I am a teacher. I am a teacher who believes that students are capable of far more than adults give them credit for and that they should be treated with respect. I believe that students rise to the occasion and, if they know that adults believe in them, will rise to the expectations set before them. I see potential in every student and work to help them realize that potential.I am a teacher who loves to see the mind of a young person at work, who loves to sit around and talk about things that matter in the life of a high school kid. I am enriched by my students.

I am an educator.