I have a long history with Fayetteville Public Schools and specifically with Fayetteville High School:
At four years old, I began attending Kindergarten classes at Bates Elementary as a Bobcat, and ending up staying there until I was finished with sixth grade. You won't be able to find Bates Elementary on a map as it has been demolished and in its place is Phase 1 of the new high school building. Students may tell you that there is no Phase 1, but Phase 1 was built before Phases 2, 3, and 4. Phase 1 houses the basketball gym and a few classroom. After sixth grade, I moved up to Ramay Junior High for my seventh through ninth grade years. And finally, I attended Fayetteville High school from tenth through twelfth grade and graduated in 2001. However, my connection to Fayetteville schools goes much deeper than just being a student.
My Education Background:
After earning a B.A. in Mathematics at the University of Arkansas in 2005, I began my Masters in Teaching which including interning in Fayetteville. I interned at Ramay Junior High, Fayetteville High School, and Holt Middle School. My first full teaching position was at Fayetteville High School. I then taught at West Fork High School for 4 continuous school years and have now returned to FHS.
Interest Outside of Education:
I enjoy playing at least a few minutes of video games each day as a way to unwind. I follow the news and politics daily although I will never talk about politics at school. Playing with new technology has always been an interest of mine. I enjoyed playing baseball when I was younger. I also enjoy playing golf although I rarely make time for it anymore. My biggest golf achievement was earning a legitmate albatross.
Teaching Schedule Throughout the Years:
Summer 2006: Algebra 1 and Geometry at Rogers High School
2006-2007: Geometry, Algebra Remediation, and Geometry Remediation at Fayetteville High School
2008-2009: Geometry, Algebra 1 Remediation, and Algebra 3 at West Fork High School
2009-2010: Geometry, Geometry AB, Geometry Lab, and Algebra 1 Remediation at West Fork High School
2010-2011: Geometry, Geometry AB, Geometry Lab, and Geometry Remediation at West Fork High School
2011-2012: Geometry, Geometry AB, Geometry Lab, and Geometry Remediation at West Fork High School
2012-2013: Geometry, Geometry Lab and Precalculus at Fayetteville High School
2013-2014: Algebra 2, Algebra 3 and Precalculus at Fayetteville High School
2014-2015: Algebra 3 and Precalculus at Fayetteville High School
2015-2016: Algebra 3 and Precalculus at Fayetteville High School
2016-2017: Pre-AP Algebra 2, Algebra 3 and Precalculus at Fayetteville High School
2017-2018: Pre-AP Algebra 2 and Precalculus at Fayetteville High School
2018-2019: Pre-AP Algebra 2 and Precalculus at Fayetteville High School
2019-2020: Precalculus and AP Calculus AB at Fayetteville High School
2020-2021: Precalculus and AP Calculus AB at Fayetteville High School
2021-2022: Precalculus and AP Calculus AB at Fayetteville High School
2022-2023: Precalculus and AP Calculus AB at Fayetteville High School
2023-2024: Precalculus and AP Calculus AB at Fayetteville High School
2024-2025: AP Calculus AB / BC at Fayetteville High School
2025-2026: AP Calculus AB / BC at Fayetteville High School
2026-2027: AP Calculus AB / BC at Fayetteville High School
Teaching Successes:
2006-2007: It was my first full teaching year and my first time teaching Geometry but 78% of my students were proficient or advanced on the End of Course Geometry test. For comparison, the pass rate for FHS was 63% that year and the state average was 61%. This was also a textbook adoption year so we rewrote the entire curriculum.
2008-2009: For my 5 sections of Geometry, 78% of my students passed the Geometry EOC Exam. Which put WFHS overall at 67% proficient or advanced, which was the first time they had scored higher than the state average. The highest that WFHS had previously ever scored was 55%.
2009-2010: Because of my successes from last year, they gave me ALL the Geometry sections that the school had for this year. In the end, 88% of my students passed the Geometry EOC. This made the school competitive with every school in the state individually.
2010-2011: I had a new challenge where class times were cut by 10% and I had to make adjustments on the timing of my lessons. It took some adapting but I ended the year with 87% passing the Geometry EOC.
2011-2012: 97% of my students were proficient or advanced on the End of Course Geometry test. The scores were almost the highest of any school from Arkansas that year.
2012-2013: I had just moved back to FHS and spent the year getting adjusted to a new school and it was the first year to teach Precalculus. For my 3 sections of Geometry, 95% of my students scored proficient or advanced on the End of Course Geometry exam. For my Precal classes, it was my first time to have students participate in the regional ACTM math competition and several of them scored in the top 10 and several more scored in the top 25 of the participants. I was also nominated for PAEMST (Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching).
2013-2014: I had my first chance at a break away from Geometry. As much as I loved Geometry and the success I was having with it, I had been teaching so many sections of it for so long that I was feeling burned out by it. This year I was given the opportunity to teach Algebra 2, Algebra 3, and Precalculus. It was challenging to teach 3 different courses with two of them being new to me.
2014-2015: This year I got to focus on Algebra 3 and Precalculus. Although I have students participate in the ACTM math competition every year, I was especially proud of one my students who went on to get 2nd place at the state level of the competition. This was my first year in room 3404 in the "new" building. This was the last year that I used a sick day until my appendectomy in 2025.
2015-2016: The new challenge for me this year came with the addition of block scheduling. Overall, I was seeing my students less and trying to find ways to get them to still be successful when only having math every other day.
2016-2017: This is the first year that I requested to teach Pre-AP Algebra 2. Since many of those students were going on to Precalculus, I wanted some input in the direction of the Algebra 2 course.
2017-2018: This year I was able to attend the Algebra 2 PLC meetings and have a bigger impact on the Algebra 2 curriculum. I was also a member of the Math Task Force during this year. We were required to miss approximately a dozen days over the course of the year for its meetings. I was challenged here to create practice and lessons that could advance my students when I was not there with them in the classroom.
2018-2019: This year we adopted new textbooks that were picked from the Math Task Force work. One of my students earned first place at the state level of the ACTM competition in Precalculus.
2019-2020: This was my first year to teach AP Calculus AB. This was also the year that the coronavirus shut down the schools, and the last few months were all online. At the end of this school year, I had to spend some time learning an easy an effective way to make videos to share with students to provide assistance.
2020-2021: This year we had a hybrid schedule. Students could come to school physically 0, 2, 4, or 5 days a week. The rest of the teaching and learning was provided through digital mediums. Because of the virtual component of this year, I started recording my classes for stujdent convenience. I found it to be a useful tool for students so I continued to do this for all of my classes even after this year.
2021-2022:
2022-2023: This was one of my best years for AP Calculus AB. I had 2 sections of this course and 85% of my students scored a 3, 4, or 5. That year the state average was only 44% and without my 2 sections, the school would have been at 40% passing.
2023-2024:
2024-2025: My first year to teach AP Calculus BC. I also missed 11 consectuive school days due to an appendectomy with complications.
2025-2026: The AP Calculus AB students scored the most 3s, 4s, and 5s, and the most 5s, in the start of Arkansas. Also the Calculus BC students had the highest score in Arkansas on their AP exam with a score of 4.11 out of 5.
2026-2027: It's okay.