From Page to Stage

I am currently the teacher librarian at Ponderosa High School and have been for going on 3 years now. However, previous to that I was the drama teacher at Ponderosa for 9 years. I taught three levels of drama: beginning, intermediate, and advanced. In my time as a drama teacher, I directed 9 main stage musicals and 8 main stage plays as well as numerous other smaller productions including Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre, One-Act Plays, end of the year showcases, Children's Theatre plays, and more. I continue to aid the drama department in my school in many fashions, including helping to choreograph their spring musical on occasion. In addition to this, I grew up with a mother who taught English for 30 years, and I student taught 8th, 10th, and 12th grade English. Today, as a teacher librarian, I continue to help develop and create units for English classes and beyond.

As a drama teacher, I always make sure that any lessons I do, especially for beginning drama, push student's boundaries without shattering them. Creating a safe space was always something I kept in mind when creating my lessons. In addition to this, I never teach in one specific way. If we read a play, we read as a class, in small groups, to ourselves, and with a few video clips. My drama classes were always "organized chaos." I gave students the space to create within limits and with accountability.

SARTA (Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance) honored me with 2 Elly Awards for Outstanding Direction in an Education Musical for Beauty and the Beast (2011) and You're a Good Man Charlie Brown (2012). In addition to this, my students in my productions won many Elly Awards. My students also won numerous awards and honors at the Lenaea Festival, a local high school theatre festival for the Northern California area, including a Gold Award for our One-Act Words, Words, Words by David Ives.

I received my BA in Theatre from CSUS in 2003 with a minor in English (subject matter completion program). I received my teaching credential in English in 2004. I went on to get my Library Services Credential from Azusa Pacific University in 2014.

I am well versed in Google Apps for Education, and I have run multiple trainings on Google Apps for Education throughout my district for certificated and classified staff. I'm also a mom to a beautiful baby girl, Charlotte.