I am a Cleveland County native. I was blessed to be born into a Christian home with very loving parents. I grew up going to Second Baptist Church. At the early age of 4 I knew I didn’t have Jesus in my life, and I knew I needed him. So, with the help of my mom I prayed and asked Jesus to be my Savior. That was the start of my walk with Jesus. I have often wondered why He called me to a relationship with Him so early in my life, and it would be much later in life when I would find out the reason. ​ Growing up, people would ask me what I wanted to do when I grew up, and I would always say “work with children”, even as a child myself. I graduated from Cherryville High School in 1994 and went to Appalachian State University to pursue a degree in Child Development. While at ASU I grew in my faith. I started to have a true personal relationship with Jesus and not just something I had because my parents did. I graduated from ASU in 1998 and started teaching preschool for Rutherford County Schools. Two years later I transferred to Cleveland County Schools where I taught preschool children with special needs for 17 more years. During that time I met and married my wonderful husband, George. I also started teaching children’s church at Second Baptist. At that point I realized exactly what God had put me on this earth for, not just to teach children, but to teach them about HIM. It was then that I also realized why God had saved me so early in my life. He had a plan for my life all along, and He knew that one day I would be working with little ones. Because of my personal experience, I would never doubt that He could call them to a relationship with Him, even as young as 4. ​ George and I now have two daughters. I resigned from Cleveland County schools to come on staff here at HCC in August 2017.