In her 20th year as a Theatre Educator, Kelly is thrilled to be at Thurman White Academy! Having spent many of her previous years as a High School Theatre Director, Kelly is happy to be continuing her time in Middle School.  She is super excited to see the musical theatre program growing bigger and bigger each year.

Kelly is Vegas Born and has been involved in theatre and acting since the first grade where she was a lion in The Wackadoo Zoo.  She has been hooked ever since. Taking voice and dance classes helped lead Kelly to the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts as a Theatre/Musical Theatre Major. Upon graduating from LVA, she split her time between pursuing her Bachelor's in Theatre and Education at UNLV and being a singing waiter.

Over the years, Kelly has performed in several productions, both professional and community, including South Pacific with Robert Goulet, Into the Woods, Cinderella, West Side Story and In the Heights.  An accomplished swing dancer, Kelly has competed and taught swing all over the west coast and has appeared on Dick Clark's Rocking New Year's as a featured dancer.

In 2012 Kelly was one of 15 teachers in the country to be selected for The Juilliard School's inaugural Directing Fellowship specializing in Shakespeare Text and Direction. Kelly has also studied Improv with the Second City School of Improv and participated on Improv Teams prior to becoming an educator.

Kelly is a two time Theatre Teacher of the Year in the state of Nevada as well as being a Heart of Education finalist.  

After several years in education, she earned her Master's Degree from the University of Northern Colorado in Theatre Education focusing her thesis on the Cross-Curricular Collaboration of the Arts and Academic subjects.  The belief that theatre can benefit all areas of education and life is a focal point in her teaching.

When Kelly is not working on a production or furthering her education, Kelly spends time with her family traveling and making memories. She is a self proclaimed Disney and Harry Potter fanatic (Ravenclaw!). Kelly is also a part time CrossFit Coach who loves lifting heavy weights and competing in local CF competitions and National Weightlifting Competitions.  She holds a CrossFit Level 2 certification, CrossFit Kids, and USAW L1 certification. She is a Master's National Silver Medalist in Olympic Weightlifting. You can always find her hanging out at PFC CrossFit or Las Vegas Barbell in her spare time. Her two children  are also highly athletic and train in Ninja Warrior,  CrossFit, Olympic Weightlifting and are as adventurous as their parents.  Our favorite type of vacations are Cruises!

Things Kelly loves: dogs (she has a Labradoodle - Kona, a Goldendoodle - Stitch, an Aussiedoodle - Kilo), anything Elephants, Alex and Ani bracelets, Disney anything (especially Stitch), Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Captain America, Sushi, Caramel, Dutch Bros, and lifting weights.

Things Kelly is allergic to: Lavender and most floral scents, cats, and many adhesives on tapes/Band-Aids/stickers. 

Motto: "Be the hardest worker in the room" Dwayne Johnson

Photos across the bottom: Bacon Beatdown Crossfit Comp, Me and my Daughter at the gym, with Ms. Fuentes and Mrs. Gates