Vanessa Ellis is a guest blogger for GPB Education and a middle grades social studies teacher in Muscogee County School District. She taught sixth and seventh grade social studies at Fort Service Learning Magnet Academy for six years and will teach 8th grade Georgia Studies at Veterans Memorial Middle School in the fall of 2017. Ellis received her undergraduate degree in history and secondary education from Columbus State University and is currently working on her masters at the same institution. She was selected as a 2017 Georgia Economic Teacher of the Year and was a top ten semi-finalist for her district’s teacher of the year. She enjoys attending professional developments, collaborating with other teachers and developing challenging, engaging and fun lessons. Ellis lives in Midland with her husband, who's also a teacher, and their two beautiful boys.