Christie Loar
Position: English Teacher
Classes: English III, IB English (Literature), ELD 2
Professional Background: I've been teaching for a long time, and fortunately, I still feel lucky and honored to work with young people who inspire me so much. I became a teacher so that I could encourage young people to contribute positively to this crazy world, by assisting them in developing empathy and good communication skills through reading and writing. Every day I feel fortunate to work hard at that goal. As a secondary teacher over the years, I've taught English, English Language Development (ELD), and French at both middle and high school levels.
My first and lifelong passions, however, are literature, language, and writing. In fact, I worked as a writer and editor for many years before deciding to be a teacher, in different industries and on both a freelance and fully-employed basis. I have traveled a bit and have lived in several varieties of places, and have had many adventures - and of course I plan to continue having more!
Education:
MA, Curriculum and Instruction (emphasis on teaching bilingual students), Arizona State University.
Graduate coursework in Reading Pedagogy, University of Phoenix.
Secondary Teaching Credential, Portland State University, Portland, OR.
Graduate coursework in Creative Writing, Emerson College, Boston, MA.
BA, French language and literature (major), English Creative Writing (minor), University of Oregon.
Personal Interests: Similar to all English teachers, I read as much as I can - current events and lots of different kinds of books and poetry. Also, I am a mother and a stepmother to 5 teenagers/young adults who are each fantastic and unique individuals. My family spends a lot of time sending each other photos of our pets, because we are all animal lovers! And finally, I love to be outside and in the mountains - hiking, skiing (cross country or downhill), snow-shoeing, paddle-boarding, rafting, camping, all of it. We live on a beautiful, fascinating, complicated planet which we are so lucky to enjoy and appreciate while we're here.
