Julie Gamwell received a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education for Washington State University and a Masters in Science in TESOL (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages) from Queens College, City University of New York. Julie began her teaching career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa and later spent another year in Taipei, Taiwan, learning Mandarin while she taught adults. She has taught in mainstream classrooms and for 16 years as a Bilingual Specialist in the Seattle Public Schools. Julie lives in Seattle with her husband and son.