Coming back to Arizona after graduate school and 3 years of teaching in California. I am an  “East Coast” native from Newport News, VA and a 6 year United States Air Force Veteran, and an equity and social justice advocate for music education in Title I schools. I have been a high school director in Arizona and California for the past 6 years with a well- rounded background in concert band, marching band, choir, orchestra, and guitar. I am an active musician, playing trumpet, french horn, or  euphonium (treble clef). I have had the honor of conducting the SSFUSD Middle School Honor Band in California in 2020 and the North Texas Wind Symphony in the summer of 2021. My certifications and endorsements include Standard Arizona Professional Secondary Education: 6-12 Music, Music: PreK-12, and Structured English Immersion: PreK-12, a California Single Subject Music and Cross Language and Development Teaching Credential and a Texas Educator Music Certificate for grades EC- 12. 

I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education and K-12 Music from Ottawa University, Completing a Masters of Arts in Education in Equity and Social Justice from San Francisco State University and hold a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate from the University of South Florida. I hope I can bring my experience as a high school director to develop a robust, high and attainable music program here at Deer Valley Middle School! When I am not teaching or playing music, I am “a runner, and a trackstar,” having ran in the 2019 Berkeley Half Marathon and the 2020 Great Aloha Run in Honolulu, Hi. I enjoy eating good food, napping, sleeping when the opportunity arises, reading, collecting memes, and spending time with my twin sister and niece and nephew in California. I am here to teach your students more than just the content of music but life skills they can take with them.