Here is my link for parent teacher conferences
https://calendly.com/murdochptconference
I am the special education teacher for middle school and have been working at NPA since 2015. l was born and raised with my eight siblings in the beautiful prairie lands of South Dakota. In 1988 I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology degree from the University of South Dakota. In 1990 I received a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan. I am still a licensed clinical social worker – LCSW. In 2017 I received my certificate in special education from Rio Salado College while working as a teacher in residence at NPA..
While I am a relatively new certified teacher, I have a lot of experience in education. In 1989 I worked with a literacy project in Ypsilanti Michigan teaching adult non-readers to read. Then from 1991 to 1994 I served as a volunteer in the Peace Corps in Central America as a literacy volunteer teaching adult non-readers to read. These experiences greatly influenced my current work. I am deeply invested in teaching all children to read.
The majority of my professional work has been as a clinical social worker. This includes work as a therapist with Catholic Charities working with families referred by Child Protective Services and with therapeutic foster families. When my children were young I worked one day a week as a school counselor and also contracted with Arizona Children’s Association and a community mental health agency to provide counseling services. As a school counselor I created a bully prevention and a character development program as well as provided individual counseling to students in need including students with IEPs.
My most important and most beloved job has been being a mom. I worked ¼ time while raising my kids doing the work mentioned above. I homeschooled our son for 6 years and taught him the basics of reading and writing and math. He is now a sophomore in college studying English and economics and my daughter is a junior with a serious love of reading and writing. My husband is a retired English, history, economics and Latin teacher. My dad was a railroad worker and utility line man and my mom was a cook I was the first from my family to go to college though higher education was considered impractical for a girl when I was a kid. My five brothers followed my father in the railroad and manual labor track. I was considered odd for wanting to go to college. I still have a lot of midwest work ethic and common sense in me that is here to stay. I hope it serves me well and aids me in being an excellent teacher for my students.