Jeri Gentry:  

I now teach 7th grade language arts (writing) at the same middle school where I've been employed since 1999. Previously, I worked as a newspaper reporter, photographer, and editor for 12 years. In 1983, I earned a bachelor's degree in literature and journalism from Whitworth College (now University) in Spokane, Wash. I returned to school in 1996 and earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from Concordia University in Portland the following year. I taught social studies at Lebanon High School southeast of Albany for two years. I have been married and divorced. I married again in 2001. My husband, Todd Gentry, who also teaches 7th grade, and I now have a 17-month-old son named Sean. Pregnancy was an amazing, indescribable experience, and I'm so glad that I didn't miss out. Parenting is a long-awaited joy and challenge that's wrapped up in a eager, bright, and loving child. His giggle is the best sound this side of heaven. Todd and I attend church, where he's an elder and I sing in the choir. We live in Gresham, and my three older sisters and mother all live nearby(either in or close to the Madison...Expand for more