Hello! My name is Mrs. Estes and I will be teaching Sociology and Psychology at Ridge this year! This is my third year at Ridge, and my 16th year in education. I am originally from Wisconsin, where I attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse majoring in Secondary Education and Broad field Social Studies and minoring in History and Sociology. After graduating, I decided that I never wanted to live through another Wisconsin winter again, so I packed up and moved to the hottest place that I could think of! 

I have spent my entire career as an educator. I worked in the Deer Valley district for eight years, teaching 8th grade history at West Wing and US History and Sociology at Boulder Creek. I took a five-year break from teaching and worked as a College Counselor, Senior Project Coordinator, and AP Coordinator at BASIS Peoria. I loved helping students get into their dream schools and plan out their futures, but I really missed teaching, so I returned to the classroom here at Ridge! This summer, I completed my Master's Degree in Sociology and my research focused on social stratification, hate crimes, and social change.

In my free time, I LOVE watching sports. Football (Go Packers), baseball (Brewers) and college basketball (Rock Chalk Jayhawk) are my favorites and March Madness is the most magical time of the year...in my professional opinion. I also enjoy going on camping adventures with my husband and two cats and I try to hike and enjoy nature whenever I can. I enjoy a good nap and like to read in whatever free time I have time and I’ll never say no to a great cheese platter.