Hello! I just want to say that it doesn't seem like all that long ago that I was in your position: sitting at a desk, waiting for my new teacher to introduce her/himself, wonderding who I would be spending a large part of my near future with. Are teachers even people? Or are they some sub-species that exist to torture young minds into conformity? Do they have a life outside of school? Yes, all these questions will be answered, so set your mind at ease.


This is a picture of me with my guitar. I am a student, too! I have learned a few songs. I like to play Bob Marley, The Fray, Tom Petty, White Stripes, Cat Stevens, Jack Johnson, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan etc.






This is my husband. His name is Eric. He is a painter by trade (houses and such) but he likes to paint on canvas, too. Its important to have an artistic outlet. He also likes to make movies and is teaching himself to edit film.






This is my son, Van. He is three. He is part of the reason I am teaching High School and not elementary.
(Just kidding--he's actually pretty laid back for a three year old.)

In 2000, I co-founded a theatre company. We call ourselves The Orpheus Players. Here are some photos of me performing. We are sort of an underground theatre--by that I mean we have no permanent theatre, so we perform anywhere we can.

This is my friend Mark and I in show called Danny and the Deep Blue Sea. We performed this in the Orpheus Cafe, where we got our start. It was a heavy show about two people who are struggling to find some meaning and purpose in their lives. These are not people the world has been kind to. The show portrays a few days of their sad lives.

This is Mark and I again in a show called Seduced, written by one of my favorites, Sam Shepard. Shepard tends to write about people who have lost touch with what is acceptable to society, and this show is loosly based on the life of Howard Hughes, the eccentric aviator/womanizer who suffers from severe OCD. We performed this show in a parking garage--we set up a tent, like a circus tent, and built a stage. It actually turned out really well!

This is an aerial view of a music festival in Tennessee that we went to called Bonnarroo. There were over 80,000 people in attendance, and the festival lasted for four days. A pretty amazing event--and all went very peaceful. We saw bands like the Police (who reunited), the Whitestripes, The Flaming Lips, Lily Allen, Manu Chao and Spearhead, among others.

This is a waterfall in Montezuma, Costa Rica, where I recently visited. My son and I went on this adventure over Christmas break. If you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it! Traveling is one of the best ways to get an education. Yes, even better than college.

That concludes my introduction! Glad to be here, and I look forward to meeting all of you. Hopefully you see that teachers can be regular people, and I hope you never decide to let anyone mold you into conformity. Always ask questions, travel in the direction that interests you and pay attention--there is always something to learn!

Sincerely,

Amanda Parke