Who am I? My Teaching Journey...

Laurie Jones: Teacher/Literacy Coach: Mission Oak High School, Tulare, California 
Teaching since 2003 (L.A./Hawaii/Central CA)
Twitter: @litcoachlaurie
email: litcoachlaurie@gmail.com

Teaching was a second career for me, after working in the music industry for almost a decade, I decided the Grammy awards and Los Angeles had depleted enough of my soul and I needed something new, something real, and something that I could be proud of. Enter teaching.

I began my teaching career in 2003 at Gahr High School in Cerritos, teaching 10th and 12th grade English. I was hired under an emergency credential; the principal basically felt if I had a pulse and I was hired as a "warm body" with absolutely no experience and not one teaching credential class under my belt. It was a brutal year, but for some insane reason, I loved it and knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

In 2005, my husband and I decided to move back to my hometown of Kailua, Hawaii to raise my kids. There I had a very different experience teaching at a private school on the Windward side (Le Jardin Academy), teaching 10th grade Honors and 12th grade English, AP Literature, and Journalism. It was a beautiful work environment but abysmal pay. Our own children could not afford to go to our school...

SO, after two years and two babies, my teacher-husband and I decided there was no way we could afford our island paradise on two teacher salaries, and back to California (with two babies) we went.

Tulare, California appealed to us for two reasons: family lived there and it was cheap. Seeing that a California teaching gig pays about the same up and down the state, where you live has a tremendous impact on lifestyle. And we were sick of being poor, so the Central Valley became home.

It is here in Tulare that I really discovered my teaching self. I taught at Tulare Western High School for one year before opening the brand new Mission Oak High School in 2008 (Go, Hawks!) - I've been there ever since.

It is here in the Central Valley that I have honed my teaching philosophy: Kids have to feel loved before they can learn, and teachers will only reach the highest levels of job satisfaction when those relationships are made. We don't do it for the money and we work ridiculously hard. Why else do it if it's not for the relationships?

I have a degree in Theatre Arts, a teaching credential in English, and a Masters in Teaching. In 2015, I take on a split schedule: half teaching/half Literacy coach for our high school. I'm thrilled to see what impact I can have school-wide, working alongside my fabulous colleagues.