Hello! My name is Alicia Whitaker, and I am delighted to interact with your child! I'm a former elementary school teacher and online ESL teacher with 11 years of experience. 

I have a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Brigham Young University. I taught in the public school setting for 5 years in both Utah and Florida. I spent three years teaching 4th grade, one year teaching 2nd grade, and 1 year teaching small groups of gifted students in 1st through 5th grades. I have experience teaching summer camps at the Florida Museum of Natural History as well. Once I had children, I stopped teaching in the public school setting and moved online. From 2017-2020, I taught ESL classes with VIPKID. I've been teaching on Outschool since June of 2020. In addition to these professional teaching settings, I've had years of experience working with children in Sunday school at my church.

Outside of my classroom, I love to read (big shocker there!), play Legos with my children and husband, and enjoy board games. I thoroughly enjoy driving in the car while singing loudly too.

My teaching style is warm, energetic and fun! My passion in education is language arts. I love reading in general and I especially love reading with children. I believe that the foundational skills gained through reading aloud and conversing about books of all varieties are critical to success in all other areas in academia and in life. Books can be mirrors that teach us more about ourselves or windows that give us insight into lives that are different from our own. These experiences in literature are essential in the world we are living in today. I want to share that love of words and stories with your children!

**ENROLLMENT POLICY: According to Outschool policy, only the learner enrolled is allowed to be in class (and therefore in the screen). If a sibling or friend would like to attend and participate in the class, they must be enrolled separately.

**TRANSFER POLICY: I am happy to transfer up to 24 hours before class. Any time less than this will not be enough for your child’s spot to be filled.