My name is Marrita Hilst, and I am very excited to have recently completed my student teaching through the Professional Development School in Pekin District 108. I grew up as an only child near Manito, a small town in central Illinois, and family remains a high priority to me today. All through school I was very active in sports, clubs, and musicals, and I currently enjoy being outdoors and as active as possible. Indoors, it is hard for me to put down a good book! I very much enjoy traveling and have had the opportunity to study abroad in England and spend time in other countries through mission trips. The most important thing in my life is learning to glorify Jesus in all that I do.

          The road leading up to this point in my journey to becoming a teacher really began with my mother's inspiration. She has been a teacher for over thirty years and was the one who first exposed me to the world of teaching. In high school I realized that children and teaching were growing as passions of mine and that teaching was what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. Therefore, I attended Illinois State University to pursue a degree in elementary education and stuck with that major throughout my four years there. My college experience far surpassed every expectation I had in every way. Now I am eagerly looking forward to stepping into a classroom of my own and cannot wait to see where I will be next year.