• I teach Experimental Science & Chemistry

• 10th year teaching at Arapahoe High School. Go Warriors!

• 22st year teaching Science. Science is the best!

Favorites:

• Classic Movies: Almost Famous, Shawshank Redemption, Any Star Wars movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Princess Bride

• Books: Hunger Games, Cry of the Kalahari, The Circle, Whatever You Do Don't Run, The Handmaid's Tale, Big Little Lies

• Shows: Queer Eye, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Game of Thrones, Fixxer Upper, American Picker, West World

• Podcasts: Getting Curious and just about any Ted Talk!

• Music: Prince, Bob Dylan, John Denver, Trampled by Turtles, Jayhawks, Adele, Florence and the Machine, U2, Lumineers, Imagine Dragons, just about anything featuring the steel guitar, and a surprising amount of 90s and 00s hip hop.

• Vacations that I've taken: Costa Rica for our honeymoon, Europe, Ireland, Cuba, Moab, Montana, Pacific Northwest and Kenya

• Vacations that I would like to take: Equador/ Galapagos, Iceland, to see the Northern lights, India, Thailand

Why I teach... I was raised in a rural setting by parents who I now see where ahead of their time. We lived in a solar earth contact home, raised organic vegetables and spent a lot of time outdoors. From my parents I learned an appreciation for the natural world that became a love of Science. In High School I had an amazing biology teacher, Mrs. Pickett. Her class was just the right blend of rigorous and fun. I was hooked and I knew that I had to do something with Science in college. Working to help people was important to me. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do research or go to medical school or become a teacher. When I reflected on how much I liked the community atmosphere of high school, I chose to go into teaching. The community of Science teachers at AHS is an amazing team to be a part of. I'm both supported and inspired to make my teaching better everyday. As I've moved through my career, my focus has shifted a bit from wanting to share my love of Science to wanting to connect with students. Making students feel that we are in this together is important to me. Even if they never go on to be a Scientist, I hope that they find our time together interesting and that they know they have a friend in me. The greatest thing that I have gotten from my 22 years in education has been the relationships. So many amazing young people that I've had a chance to meet and perhaps help along the way.

This year I will be excellent at... connecting with kids. I am so excited to be back to teaching every day in person with students! Last year was so hard for everyone. This year, I will focus on helping kids to be excited about learning again. We also need to re-establish those good work and study habits. I look forward to helping the students form strong relationships with me and with eachother. Additonally, I look forward to working with all of my parent community. If you or your student ever have a concern or idea for me please share it through an email or set up a time with me for a virtual meeting. I will be sending periodic family update emails to let you know what we are learning in science as well as how things are going at school. I believe in parent involvement and I value your thoughts, beliefs, and ideas. This education thing works best when its a partnership!