In 1995 I graduated from Elon University in North Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education, K – 6.  After graduation I moved back to my home state of California to teach. I taught Grade 2 at St. Peter’s Episcopal School for a year (1996- 1997) and then made the switch to Kindergarten.  I taught full day Kindergarten at Rolling Hills Country Day School for three years.  It was during this time that I became really interested in literacy and student’s learning styles.  In 1999, I was accepted into the Master’s program, Child and Adolescent Literacy, at Loyola Marymount University in California.

The summer of 2000 I accepted a job opportunity to work as a camp supervisor at an International Children’s Camp, in Leysin, Switerland. This leap of faith led me to meeting my future Canadian husband, Greg.  After the summer, I accepted a teaching position in Coata del Sol, Spain. In 2001, I was sponsored to work for Beacon Literacy Canada in Calgary. This California girl moved to Banff, AB and learned how to commute through crazy weather!!! Greg and I married and moved to Canmore, AB in 2002.  I was hired as the Learning Support teacher for Our Lady of the Snow Catholic School. Greg and I made some pretty big changes in 2005. We moved to Kelowna, started a business, built a house,  and we were blessed with our first child, Jessica. Now that we were in Kelowna I took a break from teaching to focus on being a mom.  In 2007 we had, Kyle.  Bryce arrived in 2010.

In 2011, we enrolled Jessica at Kelowna Christian School. The school was a great fit for our family. I was hired as the Elementary Learning Support Teacher/ Reading Specialist at Kelowna Christian School in 2012.

I believe that God created us all as unique learners for a reason.  It’s my job to support all the students to better understand how they learn.  As a Learning Support Teacher I support the student, teachers, educational assistants, parents, and administration to find the best learning outcomes.  As a Reading Specialist, I team up with the Preschool, Kindergarten, and Grade 1 teachers to create a strong Early Literacy program for our students. I teach Reading Strategies to Grades 2 -5 in small groups for 30 minutes once a week.

I feel blessed to be a part of so many different aspects of Kelowna Christian School.