About Me

After thirteen years in broadcast media, I wanted to “be the change I wanted to see in the world​​” and returned to university to complete my degree in elementary education. 

​As an educator, I have taught general classrooms for both Kindergarten and 2nd grade students, led all Technology support, curriculum and staff development in an administrative role, developed teachers as an Instructional Technology Coach, was Head of Lower School, and enjoy my current position as Assistant Head of School at the St. Stephen's School in Harrisburg, PA. 

Some of my hobbies include hiking, gaming, music, mountain biking, painting, sculpting, acting, and writing children's literature.

    In today’s educational climate, it is easy to lose focus on the true purpose of school leadership. Many administrators focus too narrowly on managerial tasks and the day-to-day minutia of running their organization. While these aspects are important, excelling only in these areas makes one a manager, not a leader. To be a great leader I feel that our students must be the priority and the framework through which every other challenge must be viewed. To serve this ethos, I provide a learning environment where my students can excel academically while creating and leading a holistic educational program that not only targets academic success but all aspects of what it means to be a student in the 21st Century. 

    To achieve this goal, I trust, empower, and serve my teachers and staff, allowing them to create and lead educational initiatives throughout the school and community. No leader succeeds in isolation. It is imperative to work with each partner to help them overcome obstacles, both professional and academic, and to succeed in all of their endeavors. My goals are to create a collaborative working environment that allows the taking of academic risks and to continue to develop innovative pedagogy, providing the best academic program for our students. 

    As a leader, I continuously strive to find better processes and methods to increase the effectiveness of our service to our students and faculty. As I implement best practices, I find it imperative to use the latest research and data to make informed decisions on the direction of the institution to ensure our objectives are met and we are moving in the right direction. When making those decisions, I examine and change outdated processes or programs that hinder learning. 

    Wherever I lead, I feel connected to the greater community. I welcome and participate in various programs and initiatives, invite the members of our community into our institution for special events, and create partnerships for our school that transcend any one leader. I develop this strong community bond with effective communication with all stakeholders, inviting them to take an active part in their educational system. 

    As an effective leader, I lead by example with optimism and a positive disposition. My colleagues often see me performing tasks or participating in aspects of the school outside of my role in an effort to help the greater good. Leading by example, building relationships, demonstrating my expectations with my own actions, and working for the betterment of our students is the best way to show what I value as a leader. 

    Many students view learning as a chore or a task to be completed and checked off a list so they may start their lives. These students are rarely provided the tools needed to understand that education is a continuing, lifelong process that has a profound impact on their dreams and aspirations. Many factors contribute to a student’s apathy towards school, however, I believe that the keystone in building a lasting love of the pursuit of knowledge is to have a dynamic curriculum that is engaging, meaningful, and relevant to the student’s life.

    As an educator, taking abstract lesson concepts and making them concrete by using real-life connections to the student would be paramount. A cultural connection in a mathematics word problem or tie-in to meaningful events can easily make a challenging lesson accessible to a struggling student. Making additional connections to the students’ community exemplifies how any topic, even what may seem inconsequential to the educator, may have a profound effect on their world. Once meaning is made with the student, the lesson no longer becomes a task, but as an empowerment tool giving the student agency in their own educational journey.

    Engaging my students doesn’t start and stop with comparing Lady Gaga to Robert Frost. Unfortunately, some educators still find comfort in the “Banking Model” of education. The "sage on the stage" approach centers the power upon the teacher and is counter-productive. Communal learning shifts the locus of control to the student, allowing the teacher to become a mediator of the students’ quest for knowledge and understanding, helping them become empowered learners not just vessels to be filled. In my classroom, I facilitate a dialogue with my students, promote creative opportunities that allow collaboration, and provide avenues for my students to construct true personal meaning. This exchange of ideas not only creates meaningful learning but creates a partnership that helps the students and teacher to work in harmony to change the world.

  Rapping about Alexander Hamilton isn't enough to ensure meaning is constructed for all students. It is also important to differentiate my learning environments to promote mastery. When a concept is explored through differentiated instruction the students are more likely to comprehend, retain, and expand on those ideas and to better understand how they themselves learn most effectively. 

    I want my students to fall in love with learning and aspire to be their best selves. Pedagogy of the past will not make my students feel the power of mathematics nor have them understand the beauty of how numbers work in our universe. The brilliance of Shakespeare’s use of language cannot be conveyed in a worksheet. This passion can only be cultivated by enthusiastic, engaging, and purposeful instruction.