An Oregon native, I hail from Klamath Falls, participating in music from the earliest opportunities available at school. I started teaching in 2006 in private and public school settings in Orange County, CA and the Southern Oregon Coast, and now I am excited to be a part of the Visual and Performing Arts team at OES. I am a graduate of Whitworth University (B.A. Music) and of Hope International University (M.Ed. Music) where I developed a passion for music and education that I am excited to share with everyone I meet. I am honored to be on faculty at the University of Portland as an adjunct instructor for candidates in the Masters of Arts in Teaching program, and as a lifelong learner, I am excited to be a part of the OES community!

B.A. Music, Whitworth University

M.Ed. Music, Hope International University

Culture is the body, and language is its breath. Experiences traveling, teaching, and living abroad in a variety of places (Japan, Spain, and Venezuela, particularly), have taught me that it is through the circulation of language that culture remains vital; and working with an array of students—from preschoolers to bankers, and retirees to migrant farmworkers—has diversified my understandings of how a language can be acquired. The constants I have found about learning are these: we learn when we play, we feel ownership when we create, and we are willing to commit when we make a real connection.

When Spanish and teaching aren’t on the brain, I enjoy being in the company of my husband, two children, and our small flock of fur-bearing friends (two dogs and two cats), watching international films, reading, taking a dance class, or going for a long walk.