Barbara Chandler:  

It is hard to believe that next year we will be celebrating our 50th year graduation from high school. In someways, it seems like only yesterday. My life has been full and I have been blessed everyday of my life. I have been married to the love of my life for over 43 years. He was a marine corp officer in San Diego and we met at my best friend's wedding. Even though I was engaged to someone else at the time, I was really swept off my feet with Mike. Mike was from Rhode Island and after we got married, we moved East. It was challenging at first because I missed my family and friends back home in San Diego. But, we made our home in Rhode Island and I have no regrets. We usually make a trip to California each year so I am able to see family and friends. I attended California Western University, getting a bachelors in mathematics and then got my graduate degree from UCSD. I spent 43 years of my life teaching mathematics in San Diego Unified School District, Poway, Rhode Island, and after I retired, I was offered a job in DC where I taught at the School Without Walls, a public high school affiliated with George Washington University. I have had a very successful teaching career having received 4 national awards, two state awards and DC Teacher of the Year as the recipient of the Rubenstein Award. In retirement, I still teach kids mathematics. Local districts hire me to work with kids for a variety of reasons. Some are incarcerated , some have an illness that prevents them...Expand for more