Marleen Carroll is the youngest of seven children, born to parents that have now been married over 50 years. Marleen grew up with two brothers and four sisters on a farm in Silverton, Oregon. Her father raised organic beef cow. Her mom worked as an auditor for the Federal Government in addition to raising the children and helping with the farm. The oldest and youngest siblings are 18 years apart. Marleen loved living on the farm and has fond memories of visiting Portland on weekends with her mom to go to the library. She says finances were often tight, but the love was always large. Marleen played basketball, volleyball and softball up until high school. Sports came to an end when one of her brothers died in a car accident. His death had an enormous impact on Marleen. Her focus on community service became a focal point of her life. After graduating from Silverton High School, she began studies at Willamette Univ. in Salem. Marleen loved her time there and and double majored in Religious Studies and Psychology as well as minoring in Art Studio. While there, Marleen also studied abroad one semester in Ecuador. She lived with a family that spoke only Spanish. Marleen only knew the language from course work, so it was a challenge! After college graduation, Marleen went to Europe alone to backpack. She ended up taking a class while in Greece for a month. Relying heavily on Planet Travel Guides, she was away for 3 months, traveling Western Europe. Arriving home, she began working at the East Portland Boy's and Girl's Club, running the afternoon program for the David Douglas Elementary School. It was here she met her husband, a teacher at the school. Sam Wallace was teaching 5th grade and they shared several kids who were in his class and her program. After dating just two months, Marleen decided to go to South Africa for three months to be a World Teach volunteer for 4th and 5th graders. The relationship with Sam endured and Marleen took on another position with the Boy's and Girl's Club after her arrival back. After three years at the Club, she decided to get her Master's degree in Teaching from the Univ. of Portland. She began her teaching career at Mill Park Elementary in Portland. She also began her ESOL endorsement with OSU at this time. In 2011 Marleen took a position at Corbett Charter School teaching 4th and 5th grade. After three years, she was offered a position at Corbett District School as an ELD Specialist. Sam and Marleen have a daughter who is two years old and another is on the way! The baby is due in April. Both Sam and Marleen's mom take turns watching their daughter while they teach during the week. The family lives in NE Portland and they have three dogs. They love visiting nearby parks and being in the great outdoors.
