Who I am:
I am a white, straight, cis-gender, non-disabled, married, middle class woman with over 20 years of classroom experience in a suburban public school district in occupied Anishinabewaki land. Anything you find here is based on my perspective, but I acknowledge that perspective has been limited by my experiences, choices, biases (implicit & not), and the unearned privilege I have had in my life.I have taught English Language Arts and history for 21 years in Rochester Community Schools, in southeast Michigan, beginning at Rochester High School in 1998. I was then a founding staff member at Stoney Creek High School when it opened in the fall of 2001, and I have been there ever since. I have taught multiple levels of English, from remediation to Advanced Placement courses, as well as United States and World History. Over the years, I have been a Social Studies teacher leader, a building Activities Director, and have worked on curriculum, attendance, and best practices for teaching and learning. For every single one of those years, I have been a proud member of the Michigan Education Association. I consider our unions to be our professional associations and as such I consider it not only a duty, but a privilege to be a member. I have served as a union building representative, as a social media director for my local, and as a delegate representing Rochester at the National Education Association Representative Assembly each summer. I have an ongoing passion for improving student learning through the mentoring and training of new and young teachers, and see unions as integral to this work. I have formally and informally mentored a number of teachers in Rochester, and have trained six student teachers from four different Michigan universities over the last dozen years. I believe a teacher never stops learning, and that it is the responsibility of every educator to advocate for our profession by standing up for ourselves and our students.
I was named the 2019-20 Michigan Teacher of the Year in May of 2019.
