Introductions

On this page, tell us about yourself. List your name, your interests, your certification or teaching area, and other information that will help us get to know you. In addition, insert an image to help us remember who you are.

My name is Andrea Topalis and I am teaching kindergarten this year. I absolutely love my job! I am certified in both Connecticut and Massachusetts for the Elementary grades. In my free time I enjoy long distance running. I ran both cross country and track in high school and college as a recruited athlete. I also go bowling once a week with friends even though I'm not very good. I have a younger brother and sister who are both in college.

My name is Melanie Willard. I currently teach 6th grade social studies, focusing on general geography and various aspects of Mexico, Brazil, Central America and Canada. My absolute dream job is to teach 8th grade U.S. history. In my free time (what's that?) I like cooking and reading. I am a huge Civil War nerd, and plan to travel to all of the battlefields at some point in my life. Including this class and the other class I'm taking this summer, I have one more class before finishing my master's coursework!

My name is Patti-Ann Barry. I work in the Admissions Office at Saint Joseph College. I work in the Operations area which is more of a behind the scenes position. It is an interesting job and is always changing. I am really looking forward to becoming more comfortable with technology and have learned how to use some exciting tools, such as prezi and animoto. In my spare time, I like to read, cook, do Zumba and yoga. I also like to travel.

  I'm Colin Murray. I started my cert/Master's classes this summer. I have an anthropology degree and I just completed a Spanish equivalency degree. My plan is to become a high school Spanish teacher. I spent most of last year backpacking from Mexico to Panama which was a great experience, and I've done a lot of traveling besides that too. I'm not currently teaching but I'm hoping to start subbing soon to obtain some more practical experience.

Hello, I am Jamee Freitag. I am currently a 6th grade special education teacher at McDonough Expeditionary Learning School in Hartford, CT. Next year I will be teaching at Breakthrough Magnet School in Hartford, CT, which I am very excited about! I have just begun my masters in Curriculum and Instruction; however, hope to have them completed within the next year! In my spare time I love to dance and hike. I have taken almost every type of dance throughout my childhood and can't stay away. I have recently taken up rock climbing with my boyfriend, which I hope to improve on! I also enjoy traveling and am in the middle of planning a year long trip to South America to teach by hopefully the 2014 school year.