Ms. Rachel Baird or “Ms. B” is excited to join the Middle School SPELL team at SPASH this year. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, she grew up in Wisconsin and earned a Bachelor of Science in TESOL Education, Magna Cum Laude, from Indiana Wesleyan University, and is currently completing a Master of Arts in TESOL at LCC International University. Ms. B brings over seven years of experience teaching ESL and EFL across a wide range of environments: from K-12 classrooms to adult education and university settings in the United States, Taiwan, and China. As someone who has studied both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, she understands firsthand the challenges and rewards of language learning. This experience deeply informs her teaching philosophy: that every learner is capable of greatness and that her job is to build confident, independent students equipped with the language skills, critical thinking abilities, and self-belief they need to achieve their goals.

Ms. B is married and shares a love of travel and cultural exploration with her husband. Outside the classroom she enjoys crocheting, sewing, knitting, reading, and learning new languages. She is a natural adventurer who feels most at home in new places and cultures, which is what has taken her from the shores of Lake Michigan to the mountains of Taiwan and beyond.