Rachael has been in the early childhood field since 2002 and has her bachelors degree in Psychology with a concentration in child development. She previously worked with licensed child care programs with the Great Start to Quality Northwest Resource Center. She worked with preschool classrooms and teachers for six years through an Early Reading First grant for Kalkaska Public Schools (KPS), in which early literacy was a main focus. For nearly five years she was the Youth Services Director at the Kalkaska County Library, where she provided weekly story times for children ages birth to five. She continues to share her experience and knowledge of early literacy as a trainer for the Born to Read Initiative. She has served on the KPS school board since 2016 and is their current president (2020). She has also been a member of the TBAISD school board since 2013 and presides as their secretary.