About Ann Pinna
Ann loves children and has taught English for over 30 years. Though officially retired, she
volunteers tutoring first graders at a local elementary school. She enjoys teaching her students
reading and vocabulary skills and is captivated by their enthusiasm, eagerness, and curiosity for
learning and discovery. Ann reminds us that the word education means "to lead" someone out
of the darkness and into the light. As a lifelong educator, Ann feels that is a mission she is
proud, blessed, and happy to continue to embrace.
Ann is a graduate of Regis College in Weston, MA and received her Masters Degree in English
Education at the University at Albany, SUNY. She studied education at Harvard University and
linguistics at Oxford University, England.
Ann has volunteered at several local historic sites and community organizations, including the
Samuel F.B. Morse Historic Site, Literacy Connections, The Eleanor Roosevelt Center, American
Red Cross, American Association of University Women, Friends of the Poughkeepsie Public
Library District, and the Hudson Valley Coalition to Promote Tolerance. Currently, she helps
assemble and donate books to needy children in Dutchess County and participates in Court
Watch, monitoring Family Court cases for victims of domestic violence. She is the recipient of
numerous citations and awards in recognition of her dedicated service and advocacy for gender
equity.
Active in local politics, she was named "Citizen of the Year," was the recipient of the "Eleanor
Roosevelt Candlelight Award," and, together with her team of Court Watch monitors, was
awarded the Samuel J. Duboff Memorial Award for outstanding contributions by non-lawyer
volunteers in improving New York State Courts. In 2010, she was nominated for the "Athena
Award" for excellence in her profession, commitment to community, and support of other
women's leadership goals.
She enjoys event-planning, reading, cooking, vacationing in Carolina Beach, and traveling
overseas with her husband, also an educator, and two adult children. She currently lives in the
Hudson River Valley.
Ann hopes this book, QUARANTINED! A Child Deals with COVID, will be a timely backdrop
for
beginning readers and English as a New Language (ENL) students who are trying to figure out
the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic or any other unexpected, extraordinary experience
in their young lives. She hopes the theme of this book will serve to jump-start a discussion
about creative and meaningful ways their families might deal with any of life's challenges in a
positive way.
