The great thing about being a teacher is that you have the potential to influence any student who enters your classroom.”
Drew’s Story
Drew Larson’s transformative moment came when she was working as a volunteer for Mothers Without Borders at a children’s resource center in Zambia. The children who came to the center spoke enthusiastically about their future and how privileged they felt to attend school, despite commuting two miles each way by foot. Spending time with them helped Drew understand that “an education will open up a world of possibilities for these kids that nothing else can.”
Drew graduated from Ashland High School in Ashland, Oregon. After earning a BS from Brigham Young University, she spent three years as a TrailWalker for the Anasazi Foundation, a wilderness therapy program. She worked with youth in the wilderness of Arizona, hiking up to 30 miles a week and “living primitively.” The experience convinced her that she wanted to become a teacher. “I learned many valuable skills and perspectives on working with adolescents that I hope to integrate in the classroom.” Drew also spent a year teaching middle school in West Valley, Utah, where she had an opportunity to work with students who only recently immigrated to the U.S.
Drew is eager to become part of the Knowles community which “encourages teachers to develop as educators, reminding us that we are life-long students.”