Extracurricular

Basketball Coaching

  • Overall Record: 54-21
  • 3rd Place - Middle School State Championship (2012)
  • Valley Junior High Athletic Conference 5A West Champions (2012)
  • 38th Annual Mensendick Tournament Champions (2012)
  • 5th annual Wildcat Tournament Champions (2011)

Chess Club

I've taught hundreds of student the game of chess. In addition to critical thinking and math skills, chess teaches life lessons like strategy, sacrifice, focus, healthy competition, respect, and etiquette. The chess board is truly a level playing field. My proudest moments as an educator include bringing my first students to city to chess tournaments, and coming home with trophies and great stories to tell. Hosting a tournament at our own school was our crowning achievement.

Astronomy Club

Thanks to Project Astro, we acquired 25 Galileoscopes and one 10" reflector telescope to start the school's first ever Astronomy Club. A diverse group of students met weekly for fun space-related activities like building comets, creating skymaps, putting together telescopes, and learning to use Stellarium software to explore indoors before heading outside. We proudly hosted yearly Star Parties and Family Space Night events.

VEX Robotics

My students competed in the VEX IQ Challenge throughout Phoenix in 2015-16, learning technical skills, engineering, teamwork, and communication skills. One team of students earned a Teamwork Award and another team qualified for the CREATE US Robotics tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa. In 2016-17 I brought my program to the classroom, engaging 8th graders in Vex Robotics as part of their STEM Curriculum.

Sponsored by ASU, our students build Rube Goldberg-style chain reaction machines to prepare for entry into the international competition. Our teams competed in the live competition at ASU Polytechnic in Phoenix, Arizona. Student learned engineering concepts, building skills, and teamwork.