I am blessed with a wonderful family. My husband and I were married in 1976 and we have four grown children and four grandchildren.
My husband and I have two dogs. Our little Sadie is a black and tan cocker spaniel, and Tucker is a sable-colored collie, like Lassie from the books and movie. Both love to fetch and go for walks. I have been teaching at Rim School District since 1989. For the first 16 years, I taught 3rd grade. Then I started doing some 3rd/4th combos, 4th, and 5th grades. This is my fourth year at VOE. I am a history nerd and love traveling! I became active with the California Geographic Alliance and through that group, was able to go to two teacher institutes in Washington, D.C. with National Geographic. For the past six years, I have been involved with a federal grant program called Teaching American History (TAH) and have been through ten mid-Atlantic states visiting historical sites. Additionally, I participated in a Gilder Lerman teacher’s institute at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home. This past year I did a lot of traveling - to New Orleans in November to receive the California History/Social Studies Teacher of the Year award at the National Council for the Social Studies conference, then to Kauai, Hawaii in July on vacation with my husband, and then 10 days in Ireland, touring a lot of castles and cathedrals with my daughter, Sarah. With all this traveling, I love to bring experiences back and share them with my students, and sometimes I share my lessons at state H/SS conferences and teacher workshops. I also work as an adjunct professor for the University of Redlands, teaching Classroom Management and H/SS Methods to student teachers in the fall and summer. In 2015, the California Council for the Social Studies awarded me “Elementary Educator of the Year,” a big honor. Each year, I organize the annual Washington D.C. trip for fifth graders. Hopefully, you will be able to come along and see the amazing sites in our nation’s capital. It’s an awesome adventure. Now, you know a little about me. I look forward to working and learning with you this year. You can contact me via email at [email protected] . It’s going to be a great year! |