Kristin Westra

		Teacher, Third - Fifth Grades

Kristin Rohrbach Westra grew up in the Burlington, Vermont area. Her parents moved to Vermont from Pennsylvania when she was just a baby to escape the crowds. Many relatives (especially her grandparents) thought they were crazy for moving to such a rural area. She has one brother, Eric, who is three years younger. Kristin experienced island life from an early age, having spent her summers at her family's camp in North Hero in the lake Champlain Islands. During her childhood, she enjoyed most outdoor activities in all seasons, especially swimming, skiing and hiking.

Kristin attended the University of Vermont and earned a B.A. in Psychology, with a minor in German. She did a semester abroad program in Salzburg, Austria where she practiced her language skills while living an Austrian family. After college, Kristin moved to the Boston Area and worked for Lotus Development, as software company, now part of IBM. The majority of her career at Lotus was spent as a training and development manager where she was reponsible for training sales personnel in North America.

A sense of adventure brought Kristin to Northern California, where she decided to pursue teaching as a second career. She earned her teaching certificate (and later her M.S. in Education) at Dominican University in the San Francisco Bay Area. Kristin comes from a long line of educators which includes her mother and several other family members. After four years and lots of trips back home to see her family, she decided to move closer to home. After a two-year stint in Vermont teaching middle school, she followed some friends and family to Portland, Maine. The opening for "island teacher" intrigued Kristin and it continues to do so, for this is her sixth year at Chebeague Island School teaching the 3-5 Class!

Kristin lives with her husband, Jay, stepson, Jake and daughter, Sofie in North Yarmouth. Kristin's hobbies include cooking, travel, running, swimming and spending time with her family and friends. She appreciates many things about teaching on the island, including the staff, small class size and the strong community involvement.

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