I was born and raised in Emmaus, Pennsylvania and graduated from Emmaus High School in May of 2010. From a very early age, I knew I wanted to be an educator. I would come home from elementary school on a daily basis and 'play school' in the attic of my house that I fully converted into my own classroom. Now, as an experienced educator, I can say with confidence that the little girl who would teach a classroom full of imaginary students knew what she was destined for. 

After graduating high school, I moved myself to Anchorage, Alaska to attend the University of Alaska Anchorage and procure a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. Granted, this was a long way to travel to earn a degree I could have obtained at a much more local university; however, adventure called, and I answered, all while maintaining that natural drive to become a teacher. 

I have now been an educator in the Anchorage School District for eight years and have spent the last year as an Administrator and Educational Consultant. Over my career, I have continued to pursue higher levels of education, not just for myself, but for my students. I earned a Master's Degree in Teaching and Learning in 2018 and immediately pursued a Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership that was conferred in May 2021. 

Throughout my pursuit of lifelong learning, as well as out of necessity based on the non-traditional classroom environments I was leading, I have been driven to the art of curriculum development and instructional design. 

My entire career as an educator has been teaching students in multi-age class configurations. To best serve the students in my classroom, I was unable to use a standard curriculum to fidelity, knowing that the curricula program handed to me did not have my specific students in mind when it was created, nor did it account for teaching multiple grade levels simultaneously. Instead, I mastered the art of utilizing the curricula programs adopted in a particular school or district, along with my deep understanding of the Common Core State Standards, as a foundation for the instructional curriculum I planned and facilitated in my classroom community. I built upon this foundation by blending in culturally relevant, community-based, environmentally-focused, and project-based materials in order to best serve the diverse community of learners in my classroom each year.

For the past six years, I have written project-based, place-based, and game-based curriculum resources that have been shared not only across my school, and school district but also around the world. Additionally, I have created several curricula and standard alignment documents that have supported teachers in their mission to better serve the individual students in their classroom environments. 

This bridge into more leadership-type roles has grown exponentially over the years. In the Polaris context alone, I have served not only as a 4/5 teacher, but also as the Elementary Department Chair, Administrative Designee, Teacher-in-Charge, 504 Coordinator, and New Student Liaison. As mentioned, this past year was spent in two different capacities-- firstly, as an Assistant Principal at a K-12 Charter school in Pennsylvania, and the other as an Educational Consultant in my speedy return to Alaska. 

My passion for education and helping all students succeed will never dwindle; instead, I hope to continue my pursuits in serving all students in becoming their best selves (academically, socially, and behaviorally) by stepping into a position within the field of education that will allow me to support, inspire, and empower the teachers that serve our next generation every day.