Kara Kirby, Fifth Grade

Kara graduated from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio with a Bachelors degree in Fine Art. After graduation she moved to Tanzania where she worked as a kindergarten teacher while setting up a non-profit working with local communities to reunify street children with their families. While in Tanzania, she obtained her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, and then taught at The International School of Moshi, an IB World school for 10 years.

Kara returned to Cleveland in 2011 to pursue her PhD in Cultural Foundations at Kent State University, which she was awarded in December 2016. Throughout her teaching career Kara has taught all grades K-5 as well as young adults. In Cleveland Kara has worked in a local charter school to help create their IB program. She is also an adjunct professor at Kent State, teaching teacher preparation courses. In her free time Kara enjoys hiking, playing, cooking, going to concerts and festivals, volunteering and making art with her three children. Her family is also raising a young Labrador retriever to be a Seeing Eye dog for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.