GaVS ePortfolio: Personal Profile

I attended the University of Florida, majoring in Zoology with a concentration in German. I also became certified as a NAUI Scuba Diving Instructor while at the University of Florida and taught Open Water Scuba Diving in the University’s Academic Diving Program. I graduated summa cum laude due to my undergraduate research on the invasive Green Mussel, Perna viridis. After graduation, I worked for about 8 months as a Research Assistant in the University’s Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. I worked as a science diver, diving in King’s Bay, Homosassa, Tampa Bay, and the Florida Keys. I also worked on a variety of water quality monitoring projects across the state of Florida.

That fall, I began graduate school in the University of Florida’s Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. My research focused on the lesser starlet coral, Siderastrea radians, and how it was adapting or reacting to increased shading from algae in Homosassa Bay, Florida.

In 2008, I graduated with my Masters of Science from the University of Florida.

In 2009, I began teaching science in the Savannah-Chatham County school district. During the 2009-2010 school year, I taught at Windsor Forest High School and taught Chemistry, Physical Science, and Biology. The next year, I moved to the district’s new Biological and Environmental Sciences school, Islands High School, and helped create the research program. My Research students conducted semester-long research projects that received several recognitions at the State Science Fair. At Islands High School, I taught Physical Science, Biology, Zoology, and Scientific Research II. After two years at Islands High School, I had the opportunity to move to Savannah Arts Academy. I taught at Savannah Arts, a top-ranked school in the state, for four years. I taught Honors Physics and AP Environmental Science, flipping both of my classes.

While teaching in Savannah, I mentored pre-service teachers at Armstrong State University through the NOYCE NSF grant and served as the K-12 Education Representative on the Gray’s Reef Sanctuary Advisory Council. I also received 10 Chromebooks through a district-sponsored grant program and received over $17,000 of equipment for my students through Donors Choose.org.

Now, I am an adjunct instructor with Georgia Virtual School and raising my 18-month old, Benjamin. I am grateful that Georgia Virtual School allows me the opportunity to raise Benjamin and not miss out on all those sweet moments as he grows, but also keep my brain "in the game" and still make a difference in the lives of my students.

Georgia Virtual School Teaching Experience

December 2016: completed NIPC

Spring 2017: Adjunct Physics B Instructor; completed JIT Training

Summer 2017: Adjunct Environmental Science B Instructor

Teaching Philosophy and Goals

I especially love the investigative nature of science and explaining how the world works - through biology, chemistry, physics or a combination of these three. I also enjoy teaching my students to think critically. My hope is that even if my students decide not to pursue science as a career, they will at least have an appreciation of the subject after taking one of my classes.

I am enjoying the opportunity to teach students from all over the state through the internet with Georgia Virtual School.