A Bit About Me....Lauren MacDonald
I grew up in Parma, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. I attended Miami University, where I met my husband Scott. He is from Kettering. I moved down to southern Ohio after graduation from Miami and began teaching second grade at Queen Of Peace School in Hamilton. When Scott and I got married in 1989, I changed jobs and began teaching second grade at Corpus Christi, downtown.
In May of 1991, Madison was born and so I decided to leave teaching to stay home with her.
Ian arrived in 1992. I enjoyed staying home with my children and thought I would not return to teaching, but when Ian was in kindergarten, his teacher became ill and needed a long-term sub. I stepped in and had the best of both worlds; I was with my children, but I also was able to teach again. His teacher took the next year off and I remained in the kindergarten classroom. It reminded me of how much I loved teaching. I stayed at Bishop Leibold for several more years and then heard about Minds in Motion.
I loved the multi-age concept and project-based learning. I joined the ACADEMY in 2005. It was the best teaching experience I ever had. I look forward to many more exciting years.
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 | Received Teacher of Excellence Award 1991(nomination of peers) |
| Received Excellence in Teaching Award from a parent nomination 2001 |
| Nominated for the Disney American Teacher Award 2002 |
| Awarded Innovative Teaching Grant for Birds of Flight and the Brothers Wright 2002 |
| Attended I Teach 1st Conference 2003 in Nashville and learned many new ideas to use in my classroom |
| Awarded Innovative Teaching Grant for Learning through the Travels of Lewis and Clark |
| 2009 I learned more about Abraham Lincoln with the Horace Mann Lincoln Fellowship - a great learning opportunity |
I love to learn. I enjoy photography and when I had more time, I enjoyed developing my own pictures. I like to work on the computer, go for daily 5 a.m. walks with my neighbor (which unfortunately has been curtailed by two broken bones in my foot) and I love to do fun things with my family and friends. We visited Marco Island and arrived at about the same time as Tropical storm Alberto. This was actually fun because it brought in bigger shells and made great waves for Ian to try SKIMBOARDING.
We went to Atlanta and watched some of the WORLD CUP GAMES at the ESPN ZONE.
We went up to Cleveland for the Relay for Life. We have been doing this since my dad was diagnosed with cancer many years ago.
We went to New York in 2006 for the 50th Reunion of the Andrea Doria Survivors. Scott's dad was on the Doria when it was hit by the Stockholm in 1956. It was amazing to hear the stories of the survivors, many of them were immigrants and lost everything they brought over with them on the ship. (Scott's dad was lucky, he was returning from vacation.) This was like a blast back into history. We all really enjoyed it.
Ian and Madison 2005
Ian and our puppy...Oreo
Madison and Ian at Merchant Marine Academy
50th Reunion of Andrea Doria Survivors 2006
Oreo
She may look sweet and innocent, but she is a real stinker!
Ian and Madison August 2007
