I have always been what I call a "loud observer." I take everything in. The mood in a room, what someone needs, what's going unsaid, and then I show up fully. I ask questions. I join the conversation. I make myself useful. Noticing people and finding ways to support them isn't just something I learned. It's simply who I am.

I grew up in Eugene, Oregon, raised by my mom alongside my sister. From an early age, I found deep satisfaction in being a source of steadiness for the people around me. I became someone others could count on, not because it was expected, but because helping others thrive has brought me joy. That instinct has shaped everything. The way I teach, the way I lead, and the way I show up in community. I married my high school sweetheart at 21, and together we are raising three daughters. Watching them move through school has only deepened my conviction about what schools can and should be for every child and family. I want to build the kind of school they deserve. I want to build the kind of school I deserved.

Outside of education, I have volunteered with Young Life for over a decade, walking alongside adolescents who need a consistent, caring adult in their corner. I love hosting and bringing people together, whether for a big gathering or a simple meal around the table. At my core, I want to be known as someone who loves others well and who built something that lasted beyond her own effort.

On the outside, I was a good student. I turned in my homework. I followed the rules. I figured out how to play the game of school. I was valued at home and school for being helpful, and I used that to hide my struggles. Underneath however, I was struggling for years. Working twice as hard for the same result, and doing it quietly, because I had learned that keeping the peace mattered. In 5th grade, I was placed in a low reading group, tucked away at the back of the building. I still remember what that felt like. Not the instruction, but the shame. The quiet message that I wasn't quite measuring up. I had been slipping through unnoticed, and by the time someone noticed, the damage was already done. That experience never left me. It became my purpose. I became a teacher because of that girl. I am pursuing a principalship because I want to build schools where no child moves through unnoticed or misunderstood, where the systems are designed to support them rather than put them down.

I have high standards because I believe in people. I hold others to those standards because I know what it costs when no one does. I never ask anything of someone that I would not do myself. I don't see leadership as showing up everywhere and working harder. I see it as designing systems that protect people, sustain learning, and make good practice possible for everyone, not just the students lucky enough to have the right teacher at the right time. Relationships are my foundation. Systems are how I protect them.

I have spent over a decade in education. I've taught every grade from 1st through 6th, serving as a team leader at each level. I'm one of those strange people who's comfortable with change and treat every new context as a learning opportunity. What that movement has given me, beyond the experiences themselves, is a comprehensive understanding of the full arc of elementary teaching and learning. Not many educators can say they've lived inside every grade, every transition, every developmental stage. That perspective is one of my greatest assets, and it shapes everything about how I lead.

I have learned not to dismiss what I have not yet tried. For the past several years, I have co-taught with our English Language Development teacher, integrating structured academic language routines and culturally responsive practices so that multilingual learners have full access to content, not just modified versions of it. Together, we have presented this work at COSA's Multilingual Conference two different times.

My formal leadership preparation at George Fox University pushed me to examine not just what I value, but how those values show up in systems, decisions, and structures. I finished that program holding my EdS and Principal Licensure, and I finished it as someone ready to lead, not someone who learned about leadership.

When my position was eliminated, I didn't look for a way back in. I looked for a way forward.

I'm pursuing building-level leadership because that's where I can do this work at scale. Whether that's as a principal, an instructional coach, a dean, or a vice principal, the goal is the same. Build schools where no one slips through unnoticed, where systems protect people, and where every person has the conditions to take root and thrive.

—

Credentials:

• EdS + Principal Licensure · George Fox University · 2026

• Presenter · COSA Multilingual Conference · 2024 · 2025

• MA in Teaching · Pacific University · 2013

• BS in Education · SpEd Minor · University of Oregon · 2012