When I earned my bachelor's degree, I never imagined that I would one day use my training to mold the development of professional journalists in the making. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Georgia State University in June 2000. My desire was to one day become rich and famous as a television news anchor. However, time in front of the camera didn't satisfy the internal need I had to make a difference. Only when I began working with teenagers did I realize the fulfillment that comes with impacting the lives of others in meaningful ways.

My career as a television news reporter and anchor led me to the Medford area in September 2001 to work at local CBS affiliate KTVL-TV. While in Medford, I also served as a cheerleading coach to South Medford High School, igniting my desire to mold the lives of young people. In 2003, I followed my call to teach, resigned from the television industry, took a position in radio news, and enrolled in Concordia University's teaching program, never looking back. In 2005, I completed my Master of Arts in Teaching degree at Concordia University, Portland, through its satellite program in Medford, Ore. I will complete an Education Specialist Degree in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Gifted and Creative Education through the University of Georgia in December 2009. Immediately thereafter I will begin work on a Ph.D. in the same content area.

Late June 2005 marked my return to my hometown of Marietta, GA. When I relocated to Georgia, I decided to give back to a school system that made a profound impact on my own development. I now teach at one of the top performing high schools in the state of Georgia right down the road from where I grew up. In 2009, my principal gave me a new and exciting opportunity to serve as the faculty adviser to the school yearbook, Panache, in addition to my role as the newspaper adviser, teaching both classes on a year-long schedule. I have served as the faculty adviser to the award-winning student-run newspaper, The Greyhound Tracks, and as an assistant cheerleading coach since walking through the schoolhouse doors. I also teach honors and college-prep 9th grade literature and composition, as well as senior-level contemporary literature, serving a spectrum of students from gifted to students with disabilities.

In 2008 I was named Georgia's Scholastic Journalism Adviser of the Year by the Georgia Scholastic Press Association. I hold the status of “Certified Journalism Educator” from the Journalism Education Association, and am also a fellow of the 2006 American Society of News Editors' Summer High School Journalism Advisers Institute.

I am a leader in the area of Holocaust education at both state and national levels. In 2008, I was named a fellow of the Jewish Labor Committee's Teacher Resistance Program, studying and visiting historical sites throughout Poland and Israel. I work with Holocaust museums in Washington, D.C., Houston, and Atlanta, often speaking at conferences and workshops organized by museum directors. I serve on the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust Education Advisory Board.