Amy (Helfrich) Scharf grew up in Evansville, where she attended F.J. Reitz High School. There she participated in tennis, cross country, choir, cheerleading, drama, student council, and speech. One of her most memorable moments was attending the National Forensic League's National Competition in Cincinnati as a double-qualifier in 1987. After graduating with honors, she enrolled at the University of Evansville, where she graduated summa cum laude with three degrees: theatre performance, English composition, and secondary education (English and world civilizations). In her four years as an English major, she won numerous University Writing Awards. She also performed in many University of Evansville Theatre productions, including Evita, Ring 'Round the Moon, Godspell, and Trojan Women. During her years at UE, she also danced with the Evansville Dance Theatre, performing in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Giselle.
Soon after graduation, she moved to Los Angeles, California to work for the Walt Disney Company. For three years she worked in the publicity, production, and corporate communications departments, assisting with such shows as Home Improvement and the movie The Lion King. It was at Disney that she met Ed Scharf, whom she later married.
Amy realized that she missed helping students, so she left Disney and took a teaching position in the Los Angeles School District and later the Pasadena School District. In her eight years as a teacher in California, Amy worked with students from many different cultures and backgrounds. She taught 9th through 12th grade English, remedial reading, Advanced Placement English Literature and Language, journalism, dance, theater, and cheerleading. During this time she continued to dance, attending classes at the Dancer's Studio (with Stefan Wenta) and Le Studio in Pasadena (with Charles and Phillip Fuller). In 1999 she won a scholarship to attend Pepperdine University and received her Masters in American Studies just two months before her daughter Nadia was born.
After Nadia's birth, Amy and Ed's yearning to be closer to family led them back to Evansville, where Amy began working at Signature School. She continues to write and has published poetry in The Formalist and Crisis. Recently, her work was chosen to be included in an anthology entitled Sonnets:150 Contemporary Sonnets.
9th Grade English