Hi! My name is Diane Larson, daughter of the Joe and Darlene Larson, both of Muskegon, Michigan.  I grew up in West Michigan in the small port city of Muskegon.  The beautiful waterfront along Lake Michigan is my favorite thing about the place where I grew up.  My entire family resides in Muskegon where they enjoy the change in seasons, opportunities for outdoor activities and sense of home that West Michigan provides for them. 

My professional career has found me working a variety of facets.  Some of my experience has been working at a fresh and salt water aquarium, a maritime museum, and assistant teaching in elementary schools and early learning centers.  For many years, I worked in the inner city.  I enjoyed working with youth in a Teen Challenge program, a teen mother’s program, and I directed a youth activity center for a Christian Community Development Organization.   Working with transitional housing for adults in recovery was very rewarding as well as being a children’s pastor in an inner city church.  Planting new churches in Harlem, St. Paul, Chicago and Seattle was also an incredible experience.

Currently, I live in Galena, Alaska where I work at Galena Interior Learning Academy.  At GILA, I manage the residence hall where the school’s one hundred and eleven students live.  I am really looking forward to working at GILA a second year to continue building relationships with students from all over Alaska. 

When I’m not working I love to be outside, preferably near water.  I love boating, waterskiing, SCUBA diving and just relaxing at the beach.  Softball is my favorite sport, but I enjoy playing many others.  I also like biking, hiking and snowboarding.  This last year in Galena I learned to do beadwork and that has been a lot of fun.  I really love traveling, taking road trips, visiting new places and meeting new people.  Most of all, I like spending quality time with great friends.  Oh, and I really like to going out for coffee.