Amy Chapin Bio
Amy's Bio
Amy Chapin, M.S.
My first teaching experience occurred at a picnic table in my backyard in 1966 where 5-6 scrappy neighborhood kids gathered on a regular basis to see what "Teacher Amy" had planned for their game of school. I was seven. It was extra fund for all of us because I worked with professional curriculum materials that were left over from several first grade teachers. When my mother saw me organizing dittos and workbooks into subject-area piles under my dresser, she began to think my goal of wanting to be a teacher just might be serious.
She was right. Whenever I was babysitting, I brought educational materials. In my junior year in high school I worked as a tutor in the Reading Lab. In my senior year in high school I worked as a teacher's assistant three hours a day for credit. This experience, at Gurnee Grade School in both regular and special education settings, cemented my six-year old feeling that I was meant to teach.
Now, after two degree programs; countless workshops and conferences; experience at most all the grades as well as GED, college, and graduate classes; I remain as passionate about my my career choise as ever. I am grateful I was given the skill set it takes to do this type of work and the nature it takes to do it well.