Dear 1st Grade Parent, My name is Anita Nels and I’m thrilled to be a part of the MICS 1st Grade team! I’m excited to introduce myself as your child’s teacher. It will be an amazing year for us! It’s going to be a fun year full of lots of learning and adventures. I want to know all about you, but first I’m going to tell you a few things about me. I was born on Long Island, New York, and have one older sister, Johanna and two younger brothers, Jimmy and Frankie. As a child, I lived on Long Island and spent all of our summers at the beach, that’s when I knew I wanted to attend Southampton College to receive my education degree. Southampton was always our family vacation spot so I knew if I attended LIU Southampton I would be far enough to enjoy the college experience but close enough to visit my family if I felt homesick. (Or asking my dad to run a pizza to our dorm because we were hard at work and hungry)…Dad always pulled through! I knew I wanted to be a teacher since I was in 2nd grade. I had a special bond with Mrs. Calvano, my second grade teacher, and loved her nurturing, caring but also challenging way. My cousin Cindy went to Harvard (so proud to brag about that!) to become a teacher and is now teaching at a private school in NYC, and I have two other cousins who were teachers on Long Island, so it’s in my blood. After graduating college, I moved to NC to be closer to my family. I’ve worked as a classroom teacher since 1999; I received my Masters at UNC Charlotte in 2002 and National Boards in 2008. I taught Kindergarten, Second and 1st Grade and I am looking forward to this experience with all of your babies! Personally, I have an almost 4-year-old (12/28/12) Julian, who keeps me very busy and worries me constantly because he is so fearless. He’s fun loving and has a silly personality, I hope you all meet him this year.. In my spare time, I enjoy creating memorable experiences with Julian. Each year I make an IPhoto book depicting all the special places we have visited, occasions with family and just new things he is doing. If we are not out and about, we are usually having family time with my immediate family. I come from a close, crazy Italian family and we do a lot together and thankfully, my husband Brandon Nels, the PE teacher at MILA enjoys it as well. I also enjoy special girl time, I have a core group of girlfriends that I met at my previous school in 2002 and have been friends with them ever since. I’m so excited to be your child’s teacher and for your family to be joining us at MICS this year. I look forward to meeting you and your child in room 804.
Your partner in education, Anita Nels (704-241-8390) 1st Grade Teacher