My Story

I'm the daughter of a career Navy officer and a nurse. From my father, I learned to be organized and attentive to details, two traits that I am known for professionally. From my mother, I learned to be empathic in ways that have helped me be an effective educator, trainer, and collaborative team member.  As a Navy brat, I moved many times growing up, staying mostly on the East Coast.

I went to college at Virginia Tech. After starting in the engineering program, I realized that while I enjoyed the design and technical aspects of engineering, I wanted to work with people more directly. I completed a bachelor's of science degree in secondary education in the field of technology education, which is like engineering at the primary and secondary levels. I also learned a number of skills in the communication field, including video production, graphic design, and photography.

The first block of my career was working for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS, now DoDEA) in Japan and Germany teaching children of servicemen and servicewomen living overseas. I taught a number of courses in the Professional Technical Studies domain including video production, CompTIA A++ and Cisco Networking certification classes, photography, and engineering drawing.

When I moved to Germany, my career shifted more towards educational technology training for adults. I worked as a school level educational technologist training and coaching teachers and staff on how to effectively use software and hardware in their jobs. I developed and implemented in-person multi-week classes as well as short just-in-time workshops to meet user needs. I also created job aids and desk references used by staff around the district.  I went on to earn my master's of arts in educational technology from Michigan State University's graduate overseas program. I studied adult learning theory, compelling instructional design, gamification, eLearning development, and web development. I also learned how to use content creation software including the Adobe Creative Suite. My action research project was designing effective professional development to increase integration of technology.

After receiving my masters' degree in educational technology, I was hired as the District Educational Technology Leader for the Kaiserslautern District Superintendent's Office. I managed the instructional technology programs in the district of 24 schools, including identifying material and training needs, monitoring budgets and timelines of projects, assessing the effectiveness of technology integration efforts. I also worked on policy recommendations that were implemented across the European region. I continued to design training programs with other district curricular specialists and for school level educational technologists.

My career shifted again as I returned to Virginia Tech to pursue a doctoral degree in Integrative STEM Education. My coursework included classes specific to curriculum and instruction on integrating science, technology, engineering, and math education, for which I also worked as a graduate teaching assistant. In addition, I studied quantitative and qualitative research methods, and applied that as a research assistant for several projects in technology education and integrative STEM education. My classes in instrument development for assessments and program evaluation were used to conduct a program evaluation of the Pre-service Teacher Institute for the National Institute of Aerospace and NASA Langley Education Division. I also earned the Master Online Educator credential from the Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning, learning how to apply my extensive experience with in-person teaching and learning to the online world.

I designed and developed two, multi-day summer workshops for the Virginia Space Grant Consortium. The teachers and guidance counselors who participated in the program learned about integrative STEM education through hands-on activities, lectures, small group instruction, and role play activities. School-based teams developed and implemented action plans for incorporating integrative STEM education at their job sites.

After earning a Graduate Certificate in Integrative STEM Education (iSTEM ed), I wished to apply my knowledge of iSTEM ed and accepted a position as STEM Coordinator at Skyline Middle School in Harrisonburg City Public Schools. I designed and developed a two-year integrative STEM experience for middle school students. I also trained multiple teachers on the integrative STEM education model and the developed curriculum. With the arrival of the pandemic, I worked with a team to convert the classroom curriculum to a blended eLearning curriculum in Canvas.

I then transitioned back to working with adults as learners as an instructional technology coach at Spotswood Elementary for Harrisonburg City Public Schools and then as an instructional technology teacher at General Greene Elementary School for Guilford County Schools. In those roles, I provide professional development to teachers and staff on a variety of cutting edge educational technologies. I also work with staff to design learning activities integrate computer science, robotics, and other instructional technology with the grade level curriculum.

In addition, I am an instructional designer for KeelWorks Foundation. I work with a team of instructional designers, subject matter experts, project managers, and instructional designers to design and develop eLearning courses related to work skills. The target audience is vulnerable populations that need help entering the workforce through non-traditional paths.

While living in Harrisonburg, I met and married my husband and we now live in near Greensboro, NC with our cats. When I'm not taking care of our household, I enjoy reading, kayaking, and RVing with family and friends.