I am Ashlynd Spirakus. This is my first year in Wake County schools, but I have been teaching for 10 years. Prior to coming to Wake Co., I taught in Chapel Hill for 3 years and then at a Project Based Learning/STEM Charter School until joining Carpenter. I am passionate about project based learning, and am excited to incorporate that into my new classroom here at Carpenter Elementary. You might recognize my last name because my husband also works at Carpenter! My 5 year old daughter will also be joining us at Carpenter for Kindergarten this year, so I really am joining the Carpenter FAMILY!
I have been working on my National Board Certification for the past two years and hope to finish that up this year. Working on this has really allowed me to analyze my teaching and learn from my reflections. What I love the most about teaching is that there is always more to learn! I see each new school year as a new opportunity to learn different ways of doing things because each class is unique. My instruction is tailored to match the interests of my class.
When I'm not at school, I am spending time with my family. I have two daughters (8 months and 5 years) and two step sons (ages 4 and 6). They keep us very busy! We love to be outside hiking, exploring, camping, and turning over every log to look for bugs. My favorite place to be is in the mountains.