I have a great passion for teaching and learning. I believe for an organization to be effective, everyone in the organization must be taught the expectations of their leadership and then be given access to the knowledge and resources they need to be successful in fulfilling those expectations.
I started my career in a very small rural school system in Oklahoma and then moved to the enormous bureaucracy of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), which has schools around the world servicing the dependents of military members. I worked for DoDEA in both Japan and Germany. I met and married my Army officer husband in Germany at the age of 35 and by 41, I had three small children, a PhD and had moved our household six times.
Since finally retiring from the military, my family is living near San Antonio, TX. While in Texas, I have worked as a professional development director, testing coordinator, ad-hoc administrator, and high school librarian. At one point, I was intent on starting a CTE (Career/Technical Education) charter school…that will have to wait for the future since I am currently working as a qualitative research associate at Westat, an employee-owned research organization headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.
I have 20+ years of experience in education and training along with following degrees:
- Bachelor of Science in English Education
- Masters of Library & Information Science (ALA accredited)
- Masters of Curriculum & Instruction (emphasis: educational technology)
- Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership (emphasis: knowledge management)
I am certified in the state of Texas and Oklahoma in the following K-12 school areas:
- K-12 Principal
- K-12 Virtual school instructor
- K-12 Librarian
- 8-12 Technology Application
- 8-12 Reading
- 8-12 English/Language Arts
