Mrs. Bowden was born a VERY long time ago in Gainesville, Florida. She is a seventh generation Florida native and has lived in Florida her whole life. She has been married for 20 years and has six children. Mrs. Bowden was first introduced to computers around 1995. The internet, web design and anything “techy” has been her full time hobby ever since. Mrs. Bowden was a stay at home mom for 18 years when she accepted her first full time job as a paraprofessional at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in 2001. In between eating bonbons on the couch in front of the soaps, changing diapers, scrubbing crayon marks off the walls and cooking for a brood of eight, Mrs. Bowden managed to teach herself basic HTML (the code used in creating web pages). Some people knit, or cook, or garden to relax or relieve stress. Mrs. Bowden creates web sites. She has about 20 professional web sites on the internet now. In 2000, Mrs. Bowden started maintaining L.C.M.A.’s web site, and still does it today. She also assists Mrs . Neuman in keeping the Knights On-Line email distribution list up to date. One of her creations, Homework On-Line won a Disney Teacheriffic award. Mrs. Bowden has been a guest speaker in Mrs. Cobb’s class every year since 2000. She talked to the students about HTML and web design. Mrs. Bowden said, “Talking to the students and watching their eyes light up when I explained to them how to “get on the net” made me realize that I really enjoy teaching people things that I am passionate about”. This has encouraged her to go back to school to get a degree in teaching technology. She now attends Polk Community College working towards a degree in Technology Education.