Amanda McCormick

Background

About Amanda McCormick

I am in my 17th year as an educator. This is my fourth year teaching 8th grade English at Theisen Middle School in my hometown of Fond du Lac, WI. When I graduated college in 2008 after five years at UW Oshkosh, I never envisioned how competitive the job market would be. I was applying for elementary teaching jobs at the time, and districts were getting hundreds of applicants. I didn’t get many interviews and often didn’t even get a rejection letter. After a handful of interviews, I landed on a unique opportunity in Waupun, my mom’s hometown. The high school French teacher was pregnant with twins and in need of a long-term sub. Although I had a minor in French, I never imagined that my first job would be teaching French, much less at a high school. But it was the best interview I had had, and I instantly felt welcome and at ease. I decided it would be the best place for me to start my career, learning from an amazing veteran teacher. She recognized my unique maiden name and we quickly realized that my grandparents had had a cottage on Green Lake next to her parents’ place. Talk about a small world! I got to shadow her for two weeks, cover her maternity leave, and then stay on part-time. The school district consolidated buildings after a failed referendum, so I got to stay on to teach 7th and 8th grade (which I found I was better suited to than high school) and even teach some language arts. Unfortunately, after five years, budget cuts led to the end of the French department and a layoff for me. I subbed for a year before being hired to teach middle school French at Woodworth and Sabish Middle Schools in Fond du Lac. After a year of doing that, I moved into a 7th-grade language arts position at Sabish. After four years, I was ready for a change and got the opportunity to transfer to Theisen Middle School. I taught 6th-grade language arts for two years before moving up to 8th grade. In March 2023, I took a leap of faith and began the 18-credit Reading Teacher License Program at Marian University in Fond du Lac, WI. I finished in May 2024 and decided to continue growing my knowledge of literacy at UW Oshkosh. I started the Master of Science—Literacy program in June 2024 and will graduate in December 2026 with both my master’s degree and a reading specialist license. It goes without saying that teaching is hard, but I could never imagine doing anything else.