Nicknames: A-Force, A-Bomb, Aves
Trail Name: Three Hats
Age: 25
Birthday: Nov 16th, 1985
Life's Ambition: To hike the AT
Heroes: My mom, Professor Bisbee, Joel Bruning
Zodiac: Scorpio
Theme Song: Just Dance by Lady Gaga or Wavin' Flag by K'naan
Favorite Color: Orange
Favorite Food: Anything involving cheese and a bread product
Favorite Beverage: Coffee (with lots of silly flavors and sugar)
Favorite Sport: does hiking count?
Favorite City: Boulder, Colorado
Favorite Season: Spring
Favorite Movie: Blazing Saddles
Favorite Book: It's a tie between Catch 22, Cat's Cradle, and The World According to Garp
Favorite Children's Book: Hats for Sale
Favorite Animal: Penguin
Favorite Number: 5
Favorite State: Maine in the summer
Favorite Song: Made up Love Song #43 by Guillemots
Favorite Candy: Chocolate covered pretzels
Favorite TV Show: 30 Rock
Avery graduated from Bowdoin College in 2008 as a Visual Arts and Art History major. After graduation she went on to join Teach for America, an organization that recruits promising college graduates, trains them, and sends them to teach in high need areas for two years. Avery was originally accepted into Teach for America as an art teacher on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When it became clear that there were no art teacher jobs in South Dakota, Avery was asked to switch to teaching Kindergarten. She accepted, thinking Kindergarten teaching would at least have some overlap with art. She spent the 4 weeks of the Teach for America training Institute learning how to teach Kindergarten, she prepared her long term plans and management plans for Kindergarten, and she moved out to Allen, South Dakota, a town with a population of 400 people on the edge of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. It wasn't until a week before her students arrived that Avery found out she would actually be teaching 5th grade. Not only that, but she would be the only 5th grade teacher in the school with a class of 24 students. The first year was a struggle, to put it lightly, but by the second year she had finally figured out what it meant to teach 5th grade, and her group of students grew an average of 2.06 years in reading in one year. This means that many students who came into her class behind ended the year at grade level and ready to move on to 6th grade. After finishing her second year of teaching in South Dakota, Avery decided to move back to her parents' home in Connecticut to rest and prepare for the Appalachian Trail. She is currently working part time at an art supply store, and occasionally commuting into New York to create and paint props for The Weapons Specialists, a company that rents the props out to films, movies, plays and tv shows. Her most recent project with the Weapons Specialists was to help paint the jingles on a tambourine that is to be used in the movie adaptation of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Working retail is causing Avery's brain to slowly ooze out of her ears and she is very much looking forward to beginning the hike. She feels lucky because Ais and Liz happened to be planning to hike at the same time she was and they invited her to join them, so now Avery doesn't have to hike alone. She feels that the patience and determination she learned from her two years of teaching and the love of the outdoors that she gained from her years at summer camp have given her a good start for the trail, and she looks forward to learning even more throughout the 6 month journey.
