Welcome Middle
School students and families! Make yourself at home and look
around carefully. This site changes frequently.
My name is April Blakely. I teach 7th and 8th
grade Language Arts in the middle
grades. My work at the University School began in
1997 after teaching in South Carolina for 5 years. University
School is a very special place for me. I am a graduate of
University High! Also, two of my nieces and a nephew graduated
from UH, and three other nieces attended
University School.
English/Language Arts is my specialty, although
I've taught every subject in middle school during my career. I'm a
National Board Certified Teacher (1999) in Early Adolescent/English
Language Arts, and I'm considered "Highly Accomplished" under the No
Child Left Behind legislation.
My personal passions include reading good
books...I always end my day with at least one or two chapters.
In the summer, my yard and flower garden occupy me outdoors.
I planted my first organic vegetable garden last
summer. It was quite an adventure as I fought beetles for my
tomatoes, saw my corn disappear overnight to a pesky raccoon, and
toiled against losing odds because of the drought!
I'm committed to volunteerism and love to travel.
A a volunteer with the ETSU Habitat for Humanity Project, I work with
faculty and students to build a home for a deserving family. We
completed our first home in October 2007 and begin the second one this
year. Recent travel
includes England,
Scotland, Ireland, France, Holland,
Germany, Spain, Italy, and
Greece.
Many of my trips are school tours that I lead for University School
high school students and families.
I'm also a doctoral student at East
Tennessee State University. I just received my administrative
license and hope one day to be a school principal!
