I was born Sarah Elizabeth Mielenhausen on June 7th, 1980 in Rochester, New York. I grew up in Pittsford, New York with my mom, dad, sister and brother. My mom is a teacher, so I loved to read at a very early age. Yes, I am actually reading the Wall Street Journal!

My Mom and Dad divorced when I was ten years old. They both remarried, and I am very close to both of them. My Dad is retired and lives in North Carolina, where he sails and plays golf. My Mom just retired from 35 years of teaching. She is now a published children's author and a professor at SUNY Geneseo. You can visit her website at www.elizabethsullivanfalk.com

Here I am, in the purple jacket, getting on the bus for my first day of second grade! In second grade, I loved music and recess, but I especially loved reading. Some of favorite books were Charlotte's Web by E.B. White and James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. After school, I took piano lessons and played with my neighborhood friends. I may have been nervous on my first day, but I loved second grade and so will you!

My sister Laura, 25, just got married! She lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband Rob. Back in second grade, my sister and I fought constantly. But now we are the best of friends! My brother Ben, 22, is studying to be a mechanical engineer at Rochester Institute of Technology. He enjoys ultimate frisbee and playing in a rock band.

After graduating college in 2002, I moved to Maryland to teach fourth grade. After two years, I switched to second grade. This year will be my sixth year of teaching. I love the people of Maryland and all of the history of Washington, D.C. I am so happy to be a part of the Mitchell family. I work with great teachers and students here.

In July of 2005, I married my best friend, Christopher. We went to Oahu, Hawaii for our honeymoon. We just celebrated our second wedding anniversary! Chris works with computers, not kids, but he still helps me grade papers once in a while. We enjoy traveling, family, friends, reading, writing, playing tennis, listening to music, and watching movies. We have two cats named Panda and Jazz.