Share a little bit about yourself! Where are you from and how did you end up where you are now?

Hello! My name is Julie Valsaint, I live in Coweta, OK and teach at William R. Teague in Wagoner, OK. I have lived in Oklahoma all my life and wanted to teach from a very young age. It took me a little while to get to the actual public school classroom, though. I started my teaching career on the mission field in St. Croix, USVI and then back in Oklahoma at Claremore Christian School.  Working at Claremore Christian is what led me into the public school classroom.

Why did you decide to become a teacher? 

From a very young age, I knew I wanted to be a teacher.  A lot of my family members are teachers, and watching them shaped what I wanted to be. To be honest, I always wanted to see the answer book!! When I was in second grade this was the answer I gave my Aunt Joyce.

Where did you attend college?

College was not easy for me and at the age of 18 I wasn’t 100% sure what I wanted to be anymore.  I attended NSU to start, then over to Rogers State College, back to NSU, and finally I ended up at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College (Now Randall University).  My degree is in missions and I traveled the world before I came back home to teach full time.

How many years have you been teaching?

This is year 18 in public school, but overall 21.

What grades and subjects are you currently teaching?

I currently teach 5th grade science and love it!

Organizations like OERB make teachers feel special, give us all the tools needed to teach for FREE, and really show us they care.  That means so much!

What else do you enjoy doing besides teaching? Any hobbies

I love to write grants that allow me to travel.  These grants allow me to do my hobby, scuba diving.  I also love a good book!

What is your favorite part of the OERB curriculum?

Gosh! Who can pick just one part?  I guess I could say my favorite part is that I can pick the curriculum up at any time and there is little to no prep involved.  The lessons are ready to go whenever I am ready to teach them.

Do your students have a favorite lesson in the OERB curriculum you teach? 

They usually love the rock lessons and getting to use any science tools, like the graduated cylinder.  It makes them feel like real scientists.

What is your favorite part about OERB HomeRoom? 

That everything you need to teach is found in one place.  I love the Lab Time With Leo videos and that I can pull up the graphics for the kids to see online.

Share a favorite moment during your teaching career? 

The best moments in my teaching career are when former students email me to let me know how much they loved my class and that they could tell I really enjoyed teaching and cared for them.  Those moments are hard to top!

Any additional information you want to share with us?

Teaching is not an easy career and really needs more recognition on how hard it is becoming.  Organizations like OERB make teachers feel special, give us all the tools needed to teach for FREE, and really show us they care.  That means so much!