I am in my 39th year of teaching.  With a master's degree in gifted education from Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, I started my teaching career in South Carolina teaching 1st-6th grade gifted.  After 5 years in the Greenville/Spartanburg area, I then moved to Nagoya, Japan and taught 4 years at Nagoya International School as a third grade teacher.  Living overseas afforded me the opportunity to travel around the world. I moved back to the United States in 1993 and taught 4th grade in the Decatur City School system for one year.  In 1994 I was hired in Muscle Shoals where I have been ever since.  

I am married to Kevin O'Steen and have two daughters, Frances Jane and Emma.  Currently, Frances Jane lives and works in Austin, Texas and Emma is in Chicago.