Hi, my name is Alexandra (Lexi) Hartley and I am going into my fifth year teaching grades 6-12 Humanities at the Lehman Alternative Community School in Ithaca, NY. My school is a public alternative school where we have multi-grade level, topical classes that change each year -- so it's always a lot of fun and a lot of building the airplane as we fly it! Outside of school, I like reading, watching loosely-historical shows, and practicing my new quarantine hobby of watercolor painting. Right now I'm reading Masha Gessen's The Future is History (a stunningly-written look at post-Soviet Russia) and catching up on Call the Midwife. One thing that might suprise you (and all of my friends from my hometown in suburban NJ) is that my husband and I will be moving into our first home--which is a farm--a few days before the institute. We're tentatively calling it "David and Lexi's Home for Retired Hens" and can't wait to get our first chickens later this year! My cover photo is Sarajevo, Bosnia, where I spent my first year after college teaching English to students majoring in Islamic theology. It was a profoundly impactful experience, and I'm super excited to use this institute to be able to connect these experiences with my newfound art hobby. Finally, I'm also very excited to be looking forward to next school year after this exhausting year of teaching.