K-3 Literacy
Tamara Nickerson works for the Idaho Department of Education's Literacy Initiative as an instructional coach in the SMART (Striving to Meet Achievement in Reading Together) program. After receiving her Bachelor's in Elementary Education with a Math emphasis, Tamara was eager to share her love of Math and Science with her first class of fourth graders. To her dismay, most of the students in her class were well-below grade level for reading ability and at risk for lifelong illiteracy. That experience became the foundation for her devotion to reading instruction. After four years as a public school teacher she then did pre-school education while raising her 4 children. In 2018 Tamara returned to her career as an educator, first achieving a Masters of Literacy Education from Idaho State University, then joining the IDE's first year of the SMART program in 2021.