Welcome to my 2nd grade portal! Many people know me as Janie Sammons around the community although my given name is Mary. This year will be my 19th year teaching in New Albany! I have taught grades 1, 2 and Kindergarten and have loved every minute! Prior to my time in New Albany I taught pre-school in Gahanna for a year. My early education undergraduate degree is from Indiana University-Bloomington where I graduated with Distinction! I played 3 years of college soccer for the Hoosiers then began coaching at one of the local high schools in the area. My student teaching placement was in 4th grade for half the semester than the highlands of Scotland for the remainder where I taught in their 2 room school house within their multiage classrooms. I received my Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Ashland University.

In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my 3 children, Maci-16, Tyler-14, Maryln-12. Maci plays soccer on the high school varsity team, Tyler is also a soccer player and is playing football for the NA 8th grade team, and Maryln is an avid dancer at Broadway Bound Dance center on their competition team. I still love coaching coach soccer and have coached from ages 4-22! I also spend a good part of my year running the New Albany Girls Travel Basketball Program for grades 3-6.

Some fun facts about me is that my husband, Jon and I, just celebrated our 20 year wedding anniversary in August! We have an adorable chocolate lab mix dog named Scooby. I have an identical twin sister, Laura, who you may also see out and about near New Albany coaching and cheering on the Eagles! So please don't worry if you see someone who looks like me but doesn't seem to know you! I love to travel! My family and I have visited England and Scotland together, Maci and I spent 16 days one summer in the South African bush where we studied tracking and signs and we are huge Disney World fans! We travel quite a bit for sports (soccer and dance) at this point in our lives! And most recently I was inducted into my High School Athletic Hall of Fame for my favorite all time sports: soccer, basketball and softball at Oakwood High School in Dayton, Oh.