Lorrie Irwin

I live in Clinton, Tennessee. Clinton is a small town about 20 miles north of Knoxville and 12 miles southwest of Oak Ridge. My husband Ron and I have been married for 22 years and we have a 20 year old daughter and a 15 year old son. Our daughter is a Junior at the University of Tennessee Knoxville pursuing a degree in education. Our son is a freshman in high school and is in the marching band. I began my career in education not in the classroom, but as a program specialist for Oak Ridge Associated Universities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. During my time there I organized peer review panels for research proposals. I was on the team that first began online peer reviews for ORAU and DOE. That is when I became a techy wannabe. I traveled extensively for my position at ORAU, so when I had my second child I decided to stay home and raise my family. I began my career in the classroom as an instructional assistant at my daughter's elementary school. I fell in love. Until this time I never considered a career as a classroom teacher. I have been employed at the same school for the past 15 years teaching K-5th grades. I am in my 3rd year teaching first grade at South Clinton Elementary. I love my job! SCES is a small school in city of Clinton with 265 students. It is the second largest school in the Clinton City School System that consists of only three elementary schools. I consider myself very blessed to work in this system. It is one of the best in our area. I have a bachelor degree in education from Tusculum College in Greenville, TN. I am presently pursuing my master's in instructional media at Wilke's University.