Welcome to my website!  I’d like to share a little bit about myself in this space and if you’d like, leave me a message so I can get to know you too.

I grew up in Wisconsin, on a small dairy farm with my grandparents.  We had cows, chickens and pigs.  I spent summers with my father in St. Louis, MO.  I enjoyed the differences between urban and rural life.  It was nice, but I wanted to see more of the world, so when I was a senior in high school, I went to Mexico as a foreign exchange student.  I learned Spanish, but I also learned to be more independent and self-reliant.

I went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC to study fashion design in the early 1990′s.   After college I lived in Chicago and worked in the industry for a short time and then moved to Boston and went back to school to study art and worked in an art gallery.  After a few years I moved out to San Francisco, CA and got a Masters of Fine Art at the California College of Arts and Crafts.  Then, 9 years ago, I finally moved to Lynn.  I went to Salem State and got an Art Teacher Certification as well as a Masters of Education in Special Education.

I love living in Lynn.  I feel as though I’ve finally found a home.  I’m impressed with the diversity of the city and the way the kids work so hard (they must be getting that from their parents).  I know we have our fair share of very serious problems to overcome, but I want to be part of the solution.  I want to teach my students to go out into the world, go to college, and then come back and make a difference.  I know there are economic and social problems right in my neighborhood.  I came up because of education so I want to share that with my students.  I’ve been teaching for 6 years in Lynn and love my career.  I can’t imagine doing anything else.  Even on a day when students are challenging me, I like my job.