Blue Tent Instructors

Tara Limoco

Advanced Senior English

 

When she was a child, Tara’s mother often scolded her to “put down that book and go outside!” Tara’s love of reading started very early, from reciting preschool nursery rhymes that her parents read to her, to devouring book after book during sunny summer afternoons, to making the public library her sanctuary as a teenager. All that reading, plus the encouragement and support of a few special teachers along the way, led to an equally strong love of writing, and eventually a desire to inspire others to love the written word as much as she does. An English teacher was born. 

 

Tara graduated from Miami University with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Education, which certified her to teach all English language arts, drama, and speech for middle and high school levels, as well as reading for kindergarten through twelfth grade. She taught English and coached a small speech team in public school, just as she had always imagined. 

 

However, she soon set out on a new adventure as part of a team preparing the charter for a school that would serve adjudicated youth in her city. Working with this group of educators proved to be the best experience she could hope for, as they learned from and leaned on each other in the complex, arduous process of preparing a charter from scratch, connecting with a unique population of students, and finding new ways to ignite curiosity in learners who had lost it. 

 

Tara later homeschooled her three children. Her two sons are currently in college, and her daughter will head there soon as well. Much like her teaching experience in schools, she and her children learned alongside each other, explored their interests, followed their curiosity, and practiced learning as an active, cooperative process. In addition to lots of reading, writing, and discussion, they made gallons of maple syrup in their backyard, created art in a multitude of media, explored the historical, scientific, and cultural sites of their region, grew a garden, started a student-run baking business, and enjoyed many other adventures together. 

 

In addition to these teaching experiences, Tara has taught language arts, cooking, art and book club for a homeschool co-op, been a contributing writer for the Cincinnati Mom Collective blog, and tutored reading, writing, and math with a focus on high school entrance exams. In her free time, she enjoys cooking (especially sourdough bread baking), gardening, West Coast Swing dancing, painting, writing, and of course, lots of reading. 

 

Tara believes that words and the stories they create, whether real or imagined, hold great power. When we grow as readers and writers, parts of the world and human experience become available to us that we would otherwise never get to experience. Reading and writing are the greatest tools for connection available to us. For her, facilitating these discoveries and connections for students is the greatest joy of teaching.