In addition to being an author, I have a master’s in education policy and I have some experience in the classroom. And it’s been a great way of kind of balancing out the author life. For one thing having spent a lot of time in the classroom before I started writing gives me a very deep and real appreciation for teachers.
And when I go into classrooms, I really appreciate everything that they’re doing, and all the things that they are bringing to the table, and all the work that they’re doing.
So I enter every classroom with a deep sense of appreciation. And then also having familiarity in a classroom setting when I go in to do school visits, it just feels comfortable to me. I like to engage with children in that way. It’s not foreign territory.
It really gave me a great baseline of experience for the other side of being author, on the engagement side. And then as far as the policy job. I work with the federal government on childcare policy helping low-income working families get access to high quality childcare.
And it’s a program that helps parents get back into workforce. And I think people have really gained a strong appreciation for how essential childcare is for our economy and for families. So, it’s both helping families access to the care that they need and also making sure that children are in healthy and safe environments where they can get a high-quality early education.
So for me it creates a nice sense of balance of like I have the policy side of things where I’m working with – to help children and families. And then I also have the creative side where I get to work with teachers and parents and kids as far as just, like, engaging their creative side and their imagination. So it’s been a wonderful ride so far.