Michele Morenz - After growing up in metro-Detroit and obtaining my BS degree in Geological Science, I began to realize that my heart had always longed for the horizon. Although the Great Lakes offered me more than I could have ever asked for, I left Michigan in 2004 to teach outdoor education in the wooded mountains of North Georgia. It was there that I fell in love with working with children and teaching. From there I wandered cross-country to teach outdoor education in the chapparal forests of southern California. Each summer I would hop in my car and head to Telluride, Colorado to teach and play at an outdoor enrichment and adventure program called Telluride Academy, where I am currently a summer Program Director. In January of 2009, I decided to make Colorado my full-time home, so I headed to the Front Range and settled in Denver. After a few months teaching natural science classes at an invertebrate zoo called The Butterfly Pavilion, I found myself lucky enough to be considered and hired for a position as Assistant teacher at Odyssey. It was then that I began my immediate love for Expeditionary Learning and the Odyssey School. I feel more than blessed to be a part of such a loving and enriching community, and come to work each day with a overflowing heart and an open mind. I have an inexplicable and deep passion for helping all Odyssey students learn and continue to grow into amazing little people, and feel grateful for how much they teach me as well!