About Jo

My name is Jo Ellen. I was born and raised in Champaign, Illinois. I attended Illinois State University and got my bachelors degree in elementary education. I was a substitute teacher for two years after I graduated, and then taught second grade for a year. I then decided to move to Indiana and worked as a medical assistant for an Optometry practice then became a manager for that company. During my time at Ossip Optometry, I got married and had a son. When my son turned 1-year-old, I decided to go back into teaching. I have worked in child care for 14 years now. I began in the infant classroom and I'm currently in the 18 to 24-month-old classroom. I develop lesson plans that contain language arts, crafts, music, social sciences, social studies, self-help skills, yoga, Spanish, motor skills, etc. I care for up to 10 children along with an assistant. I have also been awarded teacher of the month several times over the years.