The Gatton Academy's Staff

An energetic and enthusiastic veteran teacher whose first career was managing a group home, I am the 2nd Floor Female Residential Counselor.

 Throughout my teaching career, which began in Kansas and led me to California, Thailand, and Costa Rica, I have had the privilege of teaching among a delightfully diverse group of students and colleagues. I have enjoyed mentoring youth in one-on-one and group settings and helping them achieve their academic goals. 

 I am known among my colleagues as the ‘hostess with the mostess’, always throwing themed celebrations and hosting meals in order to build community. At every school that I’ve taught at, my home and classroom have become the gathering place for recent graduates and newcomers finding their way in a new environment. Building “a home away from home” is one of my strongest and most frequently flexed skill sets. 

I am truly enjoying this residential experience outside the classroom and am keenly embracing the opportunity it brings to promote and facilitate the establishment of a vital, engaged, and inclusive community here at Gatton Academy. 

My pride and joy are my two adult children who I raised as a single parent. They are lovely humans in whose presence I take great pleasure, so naturally, I am always looking forward to the next meet-up.  

A favorite quote: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

― Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967