Born and raised in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland, I was the oldest of three children. Growing up I enjoyed reading, playing sports, and spending summers in my family’s cottage on the lake in Ontario, Canada. In high school, I excelled academically, lettered in high school sports, and pursued my passion for the arts.

I graduated cum laude from Kent State University with a degree in Middle Childhood Education with concentrations in Language Arts, Social Studies, and a Reading Endorsement. My career as an educator began in 2004 in Maple Heights, Ohio teaching seventh grade social studies.

During the spring break of my second year of teaching, I traveled to New Orleans with some other teachers to volunteer for Hurricane Katrina clean up. There I met my future husband who was also doing Katrina clean up. A year later, I moved to Iowa and began working at Lewis Central Community Schools. We have two young daughters that fill our time with dance classes and soccer games. A cause that’s close to our family’s hearts is rescuing animals. We have a Boston Terrier, a German Shorthair Pointer, and a orange tabby cat.

This year marks my eleventh year working in seventh grade science at Lewis Central Middle School. I strive to instill a love of learning and appreciation for science in all my students. I’ve served as the middle school representative of the Science Content Team for eight years. In addition, I’ve served many years as a teacher leader on the Building Leadership Team. After hearing me rave about how Lewis Central Middle School is “the place to be”, my mother sold her house in Ohio and joined the LC teaching family. You may know her Mrs. Blaine who teaches Special Education at the middle school.