My Biography -- 29 years in a few words!

    Born the youngest of eight children, I hail from Reading (pronounced Redding, correct your friends the next time you play Monopoly), Pennsylvania.  The next question is usually, "How did you end up in Illinois?"   Allow me to take you through the JoLynn (Paul) Plato timeline.

    I was born JoLynn Paul on August 6, 1969, at Saint Joseph Hospital in Reading.  My two sisters threatened that, if I were a boy, my mom was NOT to bring me home (there were already five of "them").  Luckily, I was the "right" gender.  I attended a small Catholic grade school and a small Catholic high school. 

    Attracted by its small size and student-managed work program, I packed up and went off to Blackburn College in Carlinville, IL.  I graduated summa cum laude with departmental honors in 1991.  I hold a B.A. in Elementary Education. While at Blackburn, I also received my "MRS" (pardon the cliche).  I met my husband, Scott Plato, at Blackburn in 1988.  We were married on June 13, 1992.

    Scott and I spent a year in separate states prior to our marriage.   He stayed in Illinois.  While in Pennsylvania, I taught first grade in an urban Catholic school.  My students were mainly Puerto Rican, and some spoke little English at home.  What a challenge!

    Upon moving to Illinois I began working for Blessed Sacrament School in Springfield as a seventh grade religion and language arts teacher.  I have been placed in many different teaching situations while at Blessed Sacrament.  During the 1998-99 school year, I will be a seventh grade homeroom teacher, teach seventh grade religion and English, and continue coordinating the Enrichment Program that I began this year.  Outside of the classroom I am the Student Council moderator and the Speech Contest moderator.  My job as Enrichment Coordinator places me in charge of our student newspaper.  I am also the resident "organization guru" among my colleagues.  I am known for my computer and scheduling abilities.

    Life as I knew it was changed January 28, 1997.  My son, Ignatius Scott Plato, was born.  He's a great boy, and he is, of course, the cutest child ever created by God.  It's been an exhausting sixteen months, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  That's me, in a nutshell!  Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Take me back to JoLynn's ePortfolio page!