<span style="font-size: 7.5pt;color: black;font-family: Verdana">Ms. Barefield was born in Chicago and raised in Evanston, IL.  She graduated from Evanston Township high school in 1992.  She spent two years traveling and working before going to college at The University of Colorado at Boulder.  In 1998, she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in English and Film Studies.  After college, she worked in the film and television industry.  In between jobs, she volunteered at Family Guidance Center, a rehab clinic in Chicago.  This experience inspired her to leave entertainment and teach full time.  She earned a master's degree in 2003 from National Louis University.  Her first four years of teaching were spent in London, England where she taught middle school and high school in both media studies and English.  She has been working for Chicago Public Schools since returning from abroad in 2007; last year at Northside College Prep High School and this year at Entrepreneurship High School at South Shore.  She lives on the north side near her family.  She is fluent in Spanish, loves to bake, and dances whenever she can.</span>