Avery Westrich is one of the new English and Freshman Seminar teachers. Growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, Westrich went to Tennessee Technological University, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and UW-Oshkosh. Previous to teaching in Janesville, she taught in Chattanooga, Tennessee for three years and Oregon, Wisconsin for the past seven. Westrich has always wanted to be a teacher from the time she was a child. Westrich is inspired by her undergraduate mentor and English professor Dr. Hood and Ms. Pernillle Ripp, a previous colleague at Oregon Middle School. She is inspired by both because of their love of literature and willingness to support their students. She strives to be like them and hopes her students know that they can come to her for support. She hopes to encourage students to become lifelong readers and help them feel confident in using their voices in writing and speaking. Her favorite hobbies are knitting and reading good stories. She is married and has a two year old daughter named Layla. Westrich is able to bend her pinky fingers all the way back and has lived in Germany twice.