Upper School Humanities Department Head  | Ascent of Northern Colorado

ABOUT ME

I am  a Colorado native, born and raised in Centennial just south of Denver. While Colorado has always been and will always be my home, I also have a spirit for adventure and experiencing new places. This desire to live somewhere new drew me to St. Paul, Minnesota, where I attended college at Bethel University for four years. During that time, I acquired my bachelor’s degree in English education. I inherited my passion for reading and writing from my grandfather who was also an English teacher, and now I strive to impart my love of learning to my own students. 

After graduating from college, I moved back to Colorado and taught 6th grade English language arts for two years at a charter school in Castle Pines. During that time, I had the opportunity to work at an English summer camp in Japan on one of my summer vacations. I fell in love with the country and the people of Japan, and I made the decision then and there to go and teach English overseas. I had a very full three years in Japan, during which I taught English essay writing to junior high school students, studied Japanese, and worked on my master’s in multilingual education. While it was sad to say goodbye to my students and friends in Japan, Colorado was calling, and I finally returned home in 2020. 

I love being part of Ascent Classical Academy because I have the opportunity to work with both the amazing students and staff of the school and be a part of a community of lifelong learners!

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

I believe that the role of the teacher is to be the bridge between the content the students are learning and the students themselves.  Teachers are guides who help directly impart knowledge to students while also acting as guides so students can make their own discoveries.

Teachers must make information accessible so that students can understand it, and I believe that direct teaching methods as well as using Socratic discussions can help students interpret the content they are learning in class.

As a teacher, I value the various and unique backgrounds of all of my students.  Students’ backgrounds influence their world perspective, which in turn influences their interpretation of information and literature.  When students bring different perspectives to the classroom, it can lead to deeper and richer conversations.

Finally, I believe in the importance of helping students develop the skills that will allow them to be lifelong learners.  It is important for them to pursue a lifestyle of virtue and become active and caring citizens so that they can have a positive impact on our school, our society, and the world.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO 

I'm most looking forward to going on a journey with my students as we read the wonderful books that are part of the Upper School curriculum. As we step into the pages of the books we read, we are able to go on adventures with the characters. However, when we read classical literature, we are not just reading for pleasure or to learn about a character. We read these texts to discover what it means to be human. By analyzing the values of characters and their motivations, by extension, we as the reader are analyzing who we are and who we should strive to be. I cannot wait to study these inspiring texts with you all!