MANDY HERRMANN

Educating the Next Generation 

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I never had a clear idea of what career I wanted to pursue. I just knew that my true passion was to make a positive impact on the world with a personal and loving embrace. I just didn’t know what that looked like on a practical level.

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I decided to study Ethnic Studies & Women and Gender Studies as an undergraduate because of my inherent interest in both topics. I immersed myself in the study of society, organizations and individuals, dissecting the greater intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, and religion, and loved every minute of it. 

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However, after I completed my degree, I felt trapped by outside critique (“what are you going to do with that degree?”) and a personal paralysis about next steps. I knew I wanted to tackle issues like the environment,  the prison industrial complex, and institutional racism, but I just didn’t know what to do or where to start. 

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To buy a little time (and pay a little rent), I applied for a job at a national grocery store and was quickly promoted to manager. The role helped me realize that I love being in leadership positions, and that I can be a principled leader who relies on compassion, working together, asking questions and respecting others to achieve success. 

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Then came the crisis of conscience. Even though I was able to pay the rent, I knew I was not contributing to society in the way I once hoped.

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Then it hit me. Teaching has been in front of my face for the whole time, but I didn’t want to admit it. My grandma was a high school English teacher and continued to sub into her late 70’s, my other grandma was an elementary school teacher, and my mom has been a preschool teacher my entire life. I thought teaching would be the easy choice, the fall back, too obvious and not BIG enough.

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Lucky for me, I finally realized that elementary teaching is the solution for the void I’d been trying to fill for so many years. It allows me to honor my passion for social justice by making education equitable for a diverse group of students in my classroom. And it would allow me to do something BIG.

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My personal interests outside of the classroom include Sunday farmer's markets, Yoga with Adriene, hazy IPAs, making homemade salsa with my partner, collecting stamps, reading graphic novels, and taking care of my houseplants. My teams are the Seattle Storm & LA Dodgers!