Emily Breese is a sophomore English teacher who came to Fossil Ridge High School a year ago. Breese jumped on the chance to teach at Fossil, and loves Fort Collins area.

Breese was born in Evansville, Indiana where she stayed with her parents and her younger sister. In her childhood, she was constantly on the move. All before the age of five, Breese and her family moved from Indiana to Texas, Chicago, and then the Saint Louis area because of her dad’s job. Due to the constant moving, she was homeschooled most of the time, and skipped kindergarten.

Growing up, her dad was the main influencer and supporter in Breese’s dream of becoming an English teacher. She and her dad bonded over their love for reading by sharing stories and talking about the book they read together. Spending a lot of time together, Breese’s dad was closest to her. Every Saturday, they took their bikes out for a ride to get away from the house, and these memories were the most cherished from her childhood.

In High School, Breese was not the best student. With the constant suspensions, skipped classes and detentions, Breese had a rough time fitting in and she hated going to her classes. Not helping her situation, two of her friends died in a car accident and her boyfriend died of cancer in her sophomore year. Due to this time in her life, she can now relate to the students today who are having trouble in school.

Breese’s college life was long and complicated—involving running out of money, a short stint at a school in Chicago, making poor choices, before finally getting it together. She ended up getting her bachelor’s in English from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, and a master’s in Education from Southern Illinois University. Long story short, she said that her college time was very eventful.

Currently, Breese lives with her husband who she met in college, along with her two kids, Joe and Julie, who are eight and nine, and her playful yellow lab Zed. The kids enjoy playing the guitar, climbing trees, learning Spanish, and riding their bikes.

Additionally, Breese enjoys riding her bike a lot and participated in a hundred mile bike ride at the end of last month to support Pedal the Cause—a nonprofit that raises money for the cancer hospitals in St. Louis where her dad stayed for many months. Breese and her family spend their free time outdoors hiking and being active. She is planning to get a second master’s degree in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education starting this summer.

In this new school, her goal is to make an impact on students who do not like reading because of a lot of kids despite reading at all. With her caring, understanding, bright personality, Breese is a teacher everyone should have during their time at Fossil.