Meet Ann

Exceptional Teacher, Exceptional Children

For Ann, her passion for working with children with exceptionalities hits close to home, and its her familial connection that has inspired her to pursue a career in early childhood education.

Ann lives in a rural part of Virginia, and when her oldest son was told he couldn’t receive counseling services because there weren’t providers in her community, she realized there was a critical need in her community.

“I was told by a counselor that my son was being dropped from the program because there were no counselors willing to come where we lived. It’s a terrible thing to tell my seven-year-old, ‘Sorry you need help, but we can’t find someone willing to come work with you,’” she said. “Every child deserves the help that they need and the education they need to be a productive adult.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Early Childhood Education isn’t the field Ann started in, but it’s the one that has called on her. She previously worked with her husband doing mechanical work. But when an injury prevented her from the physical work required of the job, she decided to go back to school and study Early Childhood Education, as well as Liberal Arts (two separate associate degrees) at Danville Community College.

“I firmly believe that you’ve got to make a difference with the kids when they’re little. The first 5-6 years of a child’s life is critical, because you’re laying the foundation to what they’re going to be building on their rest of their lives,” she said. “I wanted to be one that would make a difference.”

Ann hopes to complete her degrees by 2020. She wants to go on to teach in-home or be an in-school counselor.