“When I was in seventh grade, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I had a lot of community and school support and it really kind of impacted my life. I decided I really wanted to teach at the middle school level. I know middle school kids have such good hearts,” she said.
Skiba is now a cancer survivor and ready to give back in more ways than just teaching.
This year she was nominated to participate as a candidate in the 2023 West Michigan Visionaries of the Year campaign through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She’s trying to raise $50,000 for the organization to help others with blood cancers and to bring awareness about blood cancers. She has until May 4 to reach her goal. (For more information about her visionaries campaign or to make a donation visit https://pages.lls.org/voy/gr/gr23/cskiba)
“When I was diagnosed, it was a tough time for me. But I was fortunate to have so many people supporting me. Now I just want to be able to help others,” she said.
She’s now in her third full year teaching at TK. The pandemic brought her to TK for a year as a virtual third-grade teacher. The next year, she was hired to teach where her heart really lies - middle school math.
“This is where I’m supposed to be. It feels like home,” said Skiba, a Jackson native who has called Middleville home for the last eight years. She and her husband, Lloyd, have two children Ellison, in 3rd grade, and Gehrig in 2nd grade. And they love being involved in the community whenever they can. Lloyd is a volunteer with the local fire department and Carmen said she enjoys attending all the festivals, parades and special events in Middleville.
She loves working with middle school students especially in building relationships and giving students confidence in themselves. “Middle school is a tough time. They are trying to find themselves and their friends. I just love building those relationships, so they know they are cared for and accepted. When they have that, learning just happens.”
Her favorite time of year is in January and February even though it seems like a long dark stretch of winter. “It seems like this is the time of year when I start to see the changes in the kids - when they start believing in themselves. My favorite thing is watching that change happen.”
She’s glad she followed her heart into teaching. It wasn’t necessarily a direct path to this career. She attended Grand Valley State University and then Siena Heights. “I started out wanting to teach, but somewhere along the way a professor or something kind of scared me out of it and I went to business instead. After a little while in the business world, I felt called back to teaching and so I got my teaching certificate at Baker College,” she said. Her teaching career started in South Carolina where she taught for four years before returning home to Michigan. Then she taught one year at Immaculate Heart of Mary and five years at the Michigan Virtual Charter Academy before coming to TK.
What’s Best About TK: “It is such a good community. We moved here eight years ago and immediately felt welcomed. It’s large enough but still has a small-town feel. The first homecoming after COVID, we were riding on the firetruck in the parade and it truly felt like something out of Friday Night Lights or something, just seeing all the people on the streets and everyone wearing the TK colors. It was special. We love it here.”
Hobbies: Gardening, cut flowers and flower arrangements, traveling especially to Sleeping Bear Dunes, working out and cooking.
Favorite Book: “The Giving Tree”
What Would A Perfect Day Be: “Somewhere on the beach in the sun and sand and listening to the waves.”
One Superpower to Have: “The ability to slow down time so I can really enjoy everything and not have it go by so fast.”
One Person She Would Wish to Have Dinner With: “My Grandmother “Sittie” is what we called her. I was very close to her and she had a huge impact on my life. When I was in South Carolina I made a commitment to call her at least two or three times a week and I’m so glad I did. She really had a huge part in my life.”
Favorite Food: “A good cheeseburger and fries. TK Kitchen has the best cheeseburgers. I love them.”
Bucket List Vacation: Costa Rica to see the rain forest and be on the beach.
What She Would Do With $1 Million - Build a home on property we purchased and donate a large portion to pediatric cancer research.