Katherine has a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education and Development from Northern Illinois University. She has fourteen years of full-time teaching experience in multicultural, intergenerational and play-based classrooms. In 1993, she received Head Start National Teacher’s Honor Award. Shas has been married for nineteen years to her husband, Mitchell, Pingree Grove Fire Chief. She has two children, Mitchell and Jane. Mitchell is a senior in high school and plays on the Central hockey league and is planning on majoring in anthropology in college. Jane is a junior in high school and is a competitive ice skater and varsity track and cross country runner.