Helene M
Writer #10078
Joined 8/13/2014
4 Star Rating
100% Success
122 Projects
0 Endorsements
3 Elite Skills
Helene is a former teacher, having taught in Elementary and Middle Grades for 17 years. Throughout those years she wrote an enormous amount of curricula in all areas of education. In addition, she taught the basics of several different writing genres, acting as instructor and editor for her students. In particular, she was the sole advisor for the school newspaper and the writing club, where she had students place first place in a regional competition.

She is also an adoptive mom of two older children. Her experience with her children and the foster to adopt process has shaped who she is as a mother, teacher, wife, and writer. She has spent many years taking care of first her mother, then her daughters and the unique issues that come with adopting adolescents with a history of abuse and mental illness. She uses these experiences to write a blog intended to help parents of children with mental illness feel like they have a voice and they are not alone.
Kids/Family
Grant
Article
Craft
Education
Blog Post

Specialties

Helene specializes in press releases, articles (especially academic in nature), blog posts, and creative writing (poetry and narrative). She enjoys the challenge of researching a topic in order to write a detailed, informative article.

Interests

Helene is a crafter at heart! She enjoys the thrill of creating something with her own hands, whether it be a quality piece of writing, a crocheted afghan, or a beautiful quilt. In addition, she has a passion for affecting the lives of children in her community. She is a former teacher who still strives to work with students individually through tutoring and mentoring.

Education

Appalachian State University

While in college at Appalachian State Helene was able to participate in a variety of experiences. In addition, she was very successful in her major, graduating cum laude. The variety in her course load has made her uniquely suited to academic writing tasks, having found great success in this area.

Education

36 Projects Completed

With 17+ years of experience in upper Elementary and Middle Grades education, Helene is an expert in the field. Throughout her career she participated in a variety of projects including, but not limited to, writing assessments, creating rubrics and scoring guides, writing unit plans and curricula, composing communication with parents, and preparing required reports. In addition, she worked in a leadership role with students through her work on the school newspaper and with a regional writing competition.

Kids/Family

15 Projects Completed

Helene has spent the majority of her adult life working with kids and families in a variety of roles. First, she is a veteran teacher with 17+ years of experience working with a very diverse population of parents and students. In addition, she is an adoptive mom. She adopted her daughters from the foster care system as adolescents. Both girls were victims of various types of abuse and suffer from mental illness. Her younger child had to spend over 2 years in residential treatment and they both continue to face unique struggles. Helene has been through extensive training as a foster parent and frequently draws on the knowledge she gained both in training situations and in her day to day interactions with her own children and the professionals that serve them.

Craft

3 Projects Completed

Helene has spent most of her life surrounded by crafts in some form. Her mother and grandmother were both active crafters and passed that love on to her. She learned to sew at a teaching retreat and has never looked back. Her knowledge of textile crafts is extensive, especially when it concerns quilting, crochet, cross stitch, and embroidery. She is currently focusing on crafting as not only a hobby but, as a way to make a living doing what she loves.

Blog Post

40 Projects Completed

Helene has recently begun writing two different blogs. One of her blogs centers around her experiences parenting two daughters with mental illness. Her other blog is a very open, honest look at her own struggles with depression. Included in both blogs are traditional blog posts and creative expressions through poetry. While both are very personal topics she has put them out to the internet world to hopefully help someone else maneuver through tough situations.

Article

26 Projects Completed

For a brief time Helene worked with an outsourcing company, writing content for several different clients. There were a variety of topics and quite a bit of research with each article. The articles were screened through copyspace and she had a very high percentage of articles, 95%+, that passed the first time and needed no revisions. After working with this company for a brief time she felt that she was not able to provide quality articles while still in the classroom full time so she and the company had an amicable separation.

Grant

2 Projects Completed

As an educator Helene was involved in a variety of grant writing opportunities both as an individual and as part of a team. Individually she wrote a grant proposal which awarded her cutting edge technology in her classroom. As part of a team she wrote a grant that awarded funds for grade level projects as well as a proposal within a leadership academy to conduct specific research through a cross age, cross curricular program she led with two other teammates.

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