Kara Polega 

     I am excited to be starting my second year here at St. Mary's.  I originally lived on a farm with my family in Ionia, but moved to Grand Rapids when I was in 6th grade.  I have lived in the Grand Rapids area since then.  I graduated from Aquinas College where I studied Elementary Education with a major in Language Arts and a minor in Math.  During my time at Aquinas, I began working at the Spectrum Health Child Development Center where I fell in in love with the field of Early Childhood Education, and knew that I wanted to work with young children!  I love to see the students in my classroom grow in self-confidence as they learn the skills to prepare them for Kindergarten!  I was a Lead Preschool Teacher in Grand Rapids for five years before coming to St. Mary's.  I am currently attending Grand Valley to earn my Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Curriculum and Instruction, and hope to finish at the end of this year.
    
​     My husband, Joel, and I have two children together.  We are members of St. Anthony of Padua in Grand Rapids.  As a family we like to spend time together outside fishing, swimming, and walking with our dog.