Board Member Bios

Current Assignment:

Corpus Christi Catholic School, 3rd Grade Teacher

Family:

I was raised in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California until I was 10 and then lived in Fresno, California. I am blessed to have loving parents and step-parents and especially blessed to have grown up with 3 awesome brothers and 2 amazing sisters. I married my husband, Dr. Tony Pina, in 1987. We are the parents of six, delightful, grown children, five daughters and a son. We have been blessed to live in many beautiful places over the last 35 years, and feel delighted to call Bloomington/Normal our new hometown. 

Education, Career, and Volunteer Work:

After High School, I worked in banking and retail until our first daughter was born, in 1989. A friend introduced me to homeschooling in 1993 and I became a homeschooling mother for the next 20+ years. I have also served in the childrens, youth and adult programs for 35+ years in a variety of roles as a teacher and leader. I currently serve as the women’s auxiliary president for the Normal Congregation. In 2017, I completed my bachelors degree at Sullivan University in 2017 and returned to the workforce as a KY Certified Foster Parent Trainer. I was certified to train foster parents in Trauma Informed Care, Behavior Management, and Foster Licensure. While I enjoyed training the foster parents, my favorite part of the job was when I got to work with the children, so I decided to return to school to pursue  a masters in education degree. I received my masters in teaching K-5 degree from University of the Cumberlands in 2022.

Reasons for serving on the FIRE Foundation Board:

I remember when I was in Kindergarten there were two students in my class who had special needs. Back then, teachers handled special needs very severely. I recall feeling alarmed and unnerved at how the teacher punished the students for not keeping up or finishing. Every kindergartener knew that the students needed extra help and it was confusing to us why the teacher didn’t seem to see that. After that, I began to notice people who needed education to be presented in a different way. 

My brother was one of those students who was punished throughout his education for not being as fast as the others, yet as an adult, he could repair and completely reassemble freight trucks, without using a manual. Five of our six children have learning challenges, including emotional needs such as anxiety, OCD and depression, and cognitive processing challenges including Autism Spectrum disorder, Fetal Alcohol Effect, and Dyslexia. As a homeschooling mother, I was able to mitigate some of the frustration that can occur in a large classroom environment, but it came at the cost of missed social, extracurricular, and educational opportunities for my children.

I have been blessed to work in Catholic education for 3+ years. I have worked with tremendous leaders and teachers who understand that the students we serve are children of God. As Teachers, we love each student, and want to provide the right services and expectations to help each one thrive. We want all of our students to experience the privilege of working cooperatively with children of every ability level and range of physical limitations. I hope that by serving on the Fire Foundation Board, I can provide perspective of what actually happens in the classroom and how we can provide the best services possible for every student. I also hope to expand my knowledge of resources and strategies that I can share with colleagues, leaders and parents.