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Can you tell us about yourself? 

"My names Toni and I work at The Village Academy. I am a teacher there. It's in Louisville, TN. I just started there about a month ago."

Why did you start a career in education?

"I started my career in teaching because I wanted to make a difference and I wanted to help this next generation get to where they needed to be." 

If you could have any other job what would it be and why?

"If I could have any job at all and why would I have it? It would probably actually be my new job that I just started at The Village because I am able to work with children in the classroom and in the mental health, as well. So, I am able to do my two passions."

How are kids today and teaching different than 30 years ago?

"How are kids different from 30 years compared to today? They are more entitled. They are more traumatized. They are more ADD because of the technology. And as far as teaching goes, I think teachers are less respected now and children are usually not held accountable for things that they do in school."

What would you tell someone who wants to become a teacher?

"What would I tell somebody who is thinking about being a teacher? I would tell them to make sure they love it and make sure they understand that it goes beyond just trying to help kids now that it's a lot different."

What is one thing you would change to help kids learn better?

"If I could change anything, it would definitely be the testing. That would we would teach children instead of teach curriculum. As silly as that sounds, we don't teach children, we teach curriculum."