Mrs. Whitehead

                                My Story In A Nutshell

*I have always wanted to be a teacher. I can remember helping my 3rd grade teacher grade math timed tests, and that’s when I first thought of how much fun it would be to be a teacher. Grading…putting the stickers on the papers and drawing stars with that red pen is what did it. However, life didn’t lead me that way. As I was raising my children (5) I was an Escrow Agent for a title company. When the company closed the office, and I was laid off that little thought came back about teaching. I was 39 years old-it was kind of late to try and go back to school for 5 years to become a teacher….wasn’t it? That means I would be at least 44-45 when I started teaching. Who was going to hire me? Could I actually do it? Really? I did, and I persevered once again, and graduated with a 4.0 gpa. It was a personal challenge. I love my job and I love my kids. I laugh with my kids, we joke and we play pranks, but we also learn. My teaching style is conversational, we talk, we learn, we listen, we laugh, and we create. I believe that we learn more when we are having fun. I try to create a light and easy atmosphere where we have fun, but can get business done.  I like to incorporate art into my teaching as much as possible. It hurts to have to take so much time off because of this illness, I love my kids.

*When I was 21, I found out I had stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I had a 2-year-old child and a newborn (3 months). I battled this disease for a year with both chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Both of which were brutal, and I spent more time in the hospital than I did at home. I persevered, kept a positive attitude, and made it through it. I am now a 25 year Cancer Survivor!

 

*In July 2018, I started to become ill, experiencing extreme fatigue and sheer exhaustion. I just started feeling really bad, and in September I developed very high fevers. After a couple of trips to the ER, I was treated for pneumonia. It didn’t get better.  In fact, I started getting worse. After further testing, I was told that I had a mass on my lung, and it did not look benign. After several more tests,  I was told I had a severe lung infection called Histoplasmosis. It is a fungal infection that settled in my lungs. This ultimately resulted in lung surgery to remove a larger portion of the infection as my body could not tolerate the anti-fungal treatments. There still some infection left that I am fighting because the surgery could only remove a portion.  I did my best to work through this illness that has totally zapped my energy and left me exhausted.  This infection has been a very long physical, emotional, and financial struggle.

The teachers and staff at Goshen Middle School in Goshen, Indiana would like to show our love for Julie by standing in the gap financially for her.  We want to help to relieve some of the stress financially. We want her to focus on getting better.  She is not only loved by her students, but the staff as well.  She is a hard worker with a wicked sense of humor, and a BIG HEART.  We know that the bills have piled up due to continued expensive testing, surgery, doctors visits, and accumulated sick days she must pay back.

Quotes from students:
"I appreciate Mrs. Whitehead because when I'm not in a good place, she helps me out. "
" I like that Mrs. Whitehead jokes around with us. She isn't just serious and boring, she's fun! I like that she teases Mrs. Sherck and uses us to carry messages back and forth. She jokes around, but we still learn. She is still a good teacher, because we learn. " 
"She's a good teacher and cares about her students. She also does her best to make sure her students do their best. She is very helpful and makes class fun with games and projects."