I graduated from Northern Lehigh High School and pursued a degree in Communications from Lycoming College. After graduating, I worked in television and radio news, as well as radio promotions here in the Lehigh Valley. Over the course of my life, I have also had the opportunity to work in theatre and at a public library, along with plenty of customer service and waitressing thrown in for good measure. After several years in the work force, I returned to Lock Haven University to pursue my English degree and obtain Pennsylvania Teaching Certification. I previously taught in temporary positions at Parkland High School, Whitehall High School and Brandywine Heights High School. This will be my tenth year at Nazareth. In 2015 I completed my Master of Education degree at Cedar Crest College, and in June 2018 I was named a National Writing Project Fellow by the Lehigh Valley Writing Project at Penn State Lehigh Valley.
I have been teaching AP Lang since 2009 and it is my single favorite thing about teaching because of its unique focus on nonfiction and its opportunity for real world connections. I attended AP Summer Institutes in 2009 at Penn State Abington with Donald Stoll of Rowan University, and also in 2010 at Bellefonte High School with high school teacher Bob Eck. Since 2013 I have been an AP Lang Exam Reader for ETS; I have scored thousands of student essays each summer in Louisville, Kansas City, and Tampa. I am the founder of
#aplangchat, a weekly professional development chat for AP teachers around the globe, and collaborator on the
APLangHelp professional development blog with my teacher friends around the country.
Outside of school some of my interests include reading, dancing, painting, Broadway theatre and showtunes, and traveling with my family.
