Welcome, Team Aspen! I'm so glad to be your counselor this year, and can't wait for all of our adventures! 

I was born and raised in Colorado, and have been a middle school teacher or counselor for the last 28 years. I began my career teaching band, jazz band, and health in the Vail Valley In 1997. I then moved to Douglas County, where I have remained for the last 25 years--18 of those as a school counselor. When I began teaching 8th grade health at Castle Rock Middle School In 2000,  I met the *other* health teacher, Brad Wiidakas. We've now been married for 21 years, and have two children. Noah just graduated from Mountain Vista High school, and is a freshman at Kansas State University. He's a rugby player (he played Rugby with Valor HS's amazing club team) and loves all things adventure and risk-taking. Greyson is a junior at MVHS. He plays basketball all the days long, and is an empathetic human. As a family, we love finding adventure outdoors, watching movies, traveling, going out to eat, and watching/playing sports. I love refinishing old, beat up furniture, watercolor painting, and decorating rooms using old, creative materials. 

My primary goal as a middle school counselor is to connect with my students. I absolutely love the middle school age, and am where I belong! I've spent every second of my 28 years in education in the middle school level, and wouldn't ever leave. I want my students to know that I'm a safe place for them to land, and we'll work through crisis, joy, or turbulence as a little team. I use many different approaches as my counseling model. I'm a Person-Centered & Solution-Focused counselor, working on helping students identify solutions to the bumps in their road, while connecting families who might need more intensive supports to the right places in our community. We work on sustainable and actionable steps to create solutions that allow students to flourish socially, emotionally, academically, and in their family unit.

I'm so excited about another year, and so grateful I get to spend my days with your kids. I'm here If your kids need support, or if YOU need support! Don't hesitate to reach out at any time.