Once upon a time there was a teacher named Cathy who was from a dark, desolate place called Idaho Falls. In this dark, desolate place, Cathy had very little to do with her spare time so she read constantly. Often, her family couldn’t find her because she would hide in the closet, basement, or giant willow tree where she would read anything she could get her hands on. It was useless to ask her what her favorite book was because even though she enjoyed the book that she was reading, she always managed to find a better book, so she always replied, “I’m sure I haven’t read it yet.” 

As Cathy grew older, she realized that she didn’t want to stay in the dark, desolate place for her entire life so she went to college to study literature at Idaho State University in the nearby town of Pocatello. There she lived for 4 years until she moved to California to be with her husband, Aaron. While in California, she wrote construction contracts and continued to take classes, but California wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be. 

Four years later, her husband said “I miss Idaho, and I want to live in the mountains.” So Cathy and Aaron packed up everything they owned and moved to Hailey, Idaho where they shrugged off the stress of city life and got a chocolate lab they named “Tulip.” Life in the mountains was great and Cathy got a job at the local newspaper, but everything still was not perfect until she began working with her friend from the College of Southern Idaho who taught ESL classes at night school.
“You should teach!” Her friend told her. But Cathy didn’t know where to begin so she told her husband that she wanted to move to Boise to get her Master’s at Boise State University in Education. Two years later, she was certified in English and Reading and she started her first semester at Meridian Academy where she teaches 10th grade English, Reading, Creative Writing and Freshman Success. To make things better, in November of 2007 she had a son who added an unexpected level of joy to her life. So even though she still lives in Idaho, she now knows that it is not a dark, desolate place because she gets to share her love of reading and learning with others and she is surrounded by wonderful people.