What's this southern girl doing in southern California? Prior to arriving in San Diego, I was raised in Memphis, TN, the home of the Delta blues, real barbecue and the world's largest Bass Pro Shop. Upon high school graduation, I attended Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA with a major in sociology and anthropology and minor in the Shepherd Program on Poverty and Human Capability. During my studies, I enjoyed taking a variety of service learning courses and forming relationships with groups in the larger community, which incited my interest in education. 

 

After graduation, I ventured to the Mississippi Delta in Arkansas as a member of the 2010 cohort of Teach for America. There I taught English for grades 9, 10, and 11 at Lee Senior High School and Clarendon High School. From there, I returned back to my Memphis roots to teach English 10, 11, and AP English Language for the founding classes of KIPP Memphis Collegiate High. At KIPP, I served students and staff in a variety of leadership capacities including Grade Level Chair, member of the Instructional Support Team, and mentor for the teacher training program Memphis Teacher Residency.

 

In August of 2015, I embarked on a new adventure to leave my southern roots and attend the High Tech High Graduate School of Education to pursue a Masters in Education with a concentration in Teacher Leadership. This year, I received the amazing honor of working at High Tech High Media Arts alongside Rachel Nichols in English 12 for the 2015 fall semester.  For the 2016 winter/spring semester I taught 10th grade Humanities at HTHMA. 

Besides teaching, I fervently delight in reading, cooking, a good line dance (cue music for The Wobble please), and occasionally watching sports .