Ms. Kourtney received her B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of South Florida in 2014. She has additional certifications in the areas of ESOL and ESE. Ms. Kourtney spent her first 4 years teaching grades 4-5 and most recently finished her last 3 years as a middle school ESE teacher for grades 5-8. She is a strong advocate for hands-on authentic learning in which students build positive relationships within a variety of professional learning communities. She believes in providing a quality classroom environment where all students feel valued and respected by their teacher and their classmates. Her professional interests focus on creating, teaching and evaluating informed lessons that integrate real life situations into content area skills. For three years in a row, she was honored with a High Impact Teacher Award from the state of Florida (2015-2018) and has also been recognized as a Top 250 Teacher in Pasco County for her contributions to student growth and academic success. (2016) Ms. Kourtney is excited and honored to have the opportunity to join the CCA family!