As a teacher, I believe I am most effective when I act as a mentor to stimulate and guide my students to creative discovery. The subject matter is unimportant, be it math or art, literature or history. When a student has his or her flame kindled by that "Ah ha!" moment, learning is most durable and transferable to other areas and situations. I came to the teaching profession early, as a high school student, participating in Future Teachers of America. Later, I received a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education and art education from Western State College of Colorado, graduating summa cum laude. In 2002, I earned a Master of Arts in curriculum and instruction from the University of Colorado.

With more than 20 years experience, I’ve taught a wide variety of learners and environments, including first, third, fourth, and fifth grade general education classrooms. I mentored a student teacher. I have led workshops with gifted students, tutoring for remedial and expelled students, and served as director for the Art Docent Program. I am a mentor writing teacher for the Colorado Writing Project and regional coordinator for Teach-Now alternative licensure teaching candidates for Western State College of Colorado. For the latter half of my career, I have been teaching elementary art education. I was honored with the Denver Art Museum's Award for Excellence in Teaching and have received nominations for Teacher of the Year and the Disney Creative Ticket for teaching in the arts.

In my long teaching career, I've had many opportunities to serve in leadership roles, including school leadership, technology, and communications teams; curriculum committees; professional learning task forces; and elementary report card revision. Currently, I facilitate the Montrose RE1J district elementary art curriculum team. As a U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellow in 2008-2009, I shared expertise, collaborated with educators and policy makers on national education issues, and authored a paper recommending best practices in visual arts education. As a TAF Alumnus, I will continue to work with the Department of Education in areas of education outreach, including highlighting Colorado students in their first art exhibition in Washington DC. Statewide, I am serving on Colorado’s visual art standards review and developing the state’s best practices recommendations for all art disciplines.