Lois Jeannine Woods

I have acquired excellent organizational and relational skills through my many experiences working with people of all ages. I am a wife to Eric and a mom to 5 boys, ages 13-28, who have had a mix of homeschooling and public schooling; four have graduated, and our youngest is in 7th grade.

I have taught history classes in a larger homeschool co-op setting for 5 years, both here in VA and in TX, including organizing a multi-day field trip to Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown for my 25 students, plus their parents and siblings.

I have come to believe that feet-on-the-ground, real life experience is the absolute best way to approach the learning continuum on any subject, but especially my favorite one - history. That the future may learn from the past.

I experienced this as a child, benefiting from parents who saw travel as a means of creating lifelong memories in both academics and family relationships. As a result, I have been to 45 of the 50 states (some many times) and several countries.

Most recently, last year, as I finished teaching the history of the Ancients once again, in March, we visited Rome, Pompeii, and other parts of Italy. And in October, as we started into our Middle Ages history, we visited London to experience the layers upon layers of history in that incredible city.

It gives me such joy to plan and facilitate these trips, and to see how much they positively impact the students in a lifelong way! My heart and passion are more and more drawn toward facilitating this on a larger scale.

The other pieces of my life have set me up well for the logistics of it, as I have been a home organizer since 2018, currently Platinum level through Marie Kondo's 'KonMari' certification process. This involves an incredible amount of listening, supporting, coming up with creative solutions, and attention to detail.

I have learned how to guide an organizing client through an introspective journey that clarifies their mindset about their items and brings joy to their everyday functional life. I assure clients that there is always a solution, and that I will go the extra mile to make sure they are satisfied with the end result.

As a hobby, I have also worked events such as weddings and wine dinners for Palladio restaurant at Barboursville Vineyards since 2018. The level of service expected and required there has honed my skills of time management, observational details (to the last spot on the wine glass), and guest experience.

I am regularly complimented for my ability to exceed expectations in service to others, always with a smile.

During the Covid era, when the vineyard had shut down and I couldn't go into my clients' homes to help them with organizing projects, I pivoted and became licensed as a Certified Nurse Assistant. I was hired by UVA hospital and worked there-first as SRO all around the hospital, from the Emergency Department to the Neuro ICU; then I moved into the Mother/Baby unit.

Soon my organizing clients were asking me to come back, and due to the chaotic school issues surrounding Covid, I decided to homeschool Channing. At the same time my father was in a rapid decline with Alzheimers and needed intensive care at home. I enjoyed the hospital experience immensely, in spite of the intense challenges of understaffing and Covid protocols. I still miss many aspects of working there, but for reasons surrounding the inflexibility of the schedule, and the overall crisis of the healthcare structure, I don't see myself ever returning to healthcare.

Now that my boys are mostly adults, I am very much interested in moving toward a job that combines my acquired skills with my life-long passions of history, travel, and serving people.

• Claire Hutchinson, (434) 989-0992, CNA instructor at Fast Track Health Care Education
• Alessandro Medici, (540) 832-3824, Manager at Barboursville Vineyards Palladio Restaurant
• Alyson Foldvary, (908) 763-0521, Manager at Barboursville Vineyards Library 1821 formal tasting room
• Mary Earles, (434) 249-9680, Lifelong friend, and neighbor from 2007-2018
• Angie Murphy, (434) 825-5112, KonMari Organizing client
• Robin Longo, (434) 243-0818, RJL4H@uvahealth.org, Manager of the Mother/Baby Unit

Thank you for taking the time to read my resume. I sincerely look forward to the opportunity of on-site coordination as part of a dynamic travel team, which supports guests in making golden memories as they experience the world!

• Certified Nurse Assistant