Lara Simmons Email & Phone Number

Seattle, Washington, United States

Seattle, Washington, United States

Seattle, Wa

Sharing my spiritual journey through writing. Helping others find their way through writing and meditation. I have written and self-published four books (Write Your Life, 28 Days of Love, 28 Days of Kindness and 28 Days of Stillness). I am currently leading two meditation groups via Meetup: a women's meditation circle and a Violet Flame Meditation group.

Bellevue, Washington, United States

Taught one section of Targeted Language Arts (which follows a similar, but modified, Language Arts curriculum for students eligible for Special Education services), and two sections of Strategies for School Success (which focuses on the social/emotional and study skills students need to be successful in school), all virtual using Microsoft TEAMS. Served as academic advisor/mentor to ten Special Education students with whom I met weekly to check-in and provide support for their academic success. Was a faculty member of the school's Racial Equity Group and a Professional Learning Community (PLC) dedicated to supporting students who were not thriving in the virtual educational model.

Bellevue, Washington, United States

Taught 6th and 7th Grade Language Arts. Planned and implemented culturally responsive lessons, collaborated with building and district colleagues around curriculum development, attended IEP and 504 meetings and implemented student 504/IEP plans in the classroom, built positive relationships with students and families. This assignment started shortly after schools in the Bellevue School District were closed for COVID-19 and all instruction took place on Microsoft TEAMS. As a result, the assignment consisted of teaching students synchronously and asynchronously and included one-on-one mentoring and instruction in order to ensure that students were engaging in learning. During this assignment I also participated in a Professional Learning Community (PLC) tasked with implementing a new online tool (Lexia) designed to increase student literacy during online learning. In addition, I served as a mentor to a student (not in any of my classes) who was struggling with online learning. During this time I attended The Moth Teacher Institute, a workshop designed to help educators bring storytelling into the classroom (July 2020).

Bellevue, Washington, United States

Taught 6th Grade Language Arts and Advanced Language Arts. Planned and implemented culturally responsive lessons, collaborated with building and district colleagues around curriculum development, attended IEP and 504 meetings and implemented student 504/IEP plans in the classroom, built positive relationships with students and families. Taught students in the classroom as well as students choosing to stay at home during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis.

Bellevue, Wa

Collaborated with mentor teacher and a fellow intern to design culturally-responsive curriculum for an argumentative essay unit; Taught four periods of 7th grade English Language Arts for nine weeks; Served as a Peer Study Group facilitator and assistant teacher for 8th grade AVID; Co-taught four periods of 7th grade Language Arts once a week using a variety of co-teaching models; Collaborated with mentor teacher to design a series of poetry lessons; Served as teacher substitute when mentor teacher was absent; Engaged in restorative conversations with students as needed for classroom management; Attended professional development sessions as offered by the school and the district including Beyond Diversity I, a two-day seminar on having courageous and compassionate conversations about race.

Seattle, Washington, United States

Was hired as the fundraising database manager and shortly thereafter promoted to Director of Development. In this role I coordinated all fundraising activities for this multi-million dollar non-profit organization, including a multi-million dollar capital campaign to build a new facility. (Now the headquarters of the Bastyr Clinic on Stone Way in Wallingford.) Duties included managing the direct mail campaign, planning donor events, writing grants, and working with the volunteer board on fundraising projects. Collaborated with the Marketing Manager, the Executive Director and the President and CEO on the organization's rebranding process, helped to write and redesign marketing materials and the company website (taught myself basic web design and created the initial website used by the organization while the permanent site was in the design process). Left this position to have my first child and be an at-home parent.

Bremerton, Washington, United States

Was hired by the Assistant Director of the Foundation to clean-up and reconfigure a fundraising database which had been neglected and underutilized. The job included cleaning up the database (eliminating duplicate donors as well as duplicate gifts), re-coding the entire donor system and converting the database to the new system. Once the system was reconfigured, I wrote a user manual for the new system and trained permanent staff on how to use it. Left this position when the project was finished.

Seattle, Washington, United States

Was hired as the Fundraising Coordinator and worked my way up to Fundraising Database Manager, assisting the organization through a conversion from a DOS-based fundraising management system to a Windows-based system (the Raiser's Edge). My role included assisting with the conversion process, creating a new donation coding and donation recording process, working with the accounting department to design new reports to meet their reporting requirements, and writing a training manual to be used by future employees. Was later chosen by the IT Manager to train as Computer Support Tech for the entire state-wide organization. In this role I configured all PCs used by staff throughout the state, provided computer support and software training to all employees, and worked in tandem with the Accounting and Development departments to ensure the smooth functioning of their database systems. While at CHS, volunteered as a mentor to one of the foster children in their cottage program and was Volunteer of the Year, along with my husband, in 1998. Left this position to return to work in fundraising.

Spokane, Washington, United States

Was hired as a book department associate at Hastings after spending a few months in Europe as an au pair after graduation. Within a few months was promoted to Book Department Manager and later was selected to oversee the opening of the book department in new stores in Coeur d'Alene, ID and Helena, MT. Was hired as the permanent Book Department Manager in Coeur d'Alene. During my tenure as Book Department Manager, our store was consistenly the top-selling book department in the NW Region, which included WA, ID, and MT. Left this position to move to Seattle.

Master In Teaching, Secondary Education And Teaching, 5-12

Ba, English, With Honors And Great Distinction

Activities and Societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Phi Alpha (German Language Honor Society)

Junior Year Abroad, English Literature And Political Science

Activities and Societies: Basketball, World Travel