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 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 every 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. I am learning to garden, I love exploring new restaurants, and I am endlessly curious about people and the stories that have shaped who they are. At my core, I want to be known as someone who loves others well and who built something that lasted beyond her own effort.

I have spent over a decade in education. Currently teaching 6th grade literacy and social studies in the Canby School District at a school with about nearly 30% of students identifying as Hispanic or Latino, and where the work of equity is not theoretical. It is daily. In a departmentalized model, I teach reading, writing, and ancient civilizations to every 6th grader in the building. This means I carry both the instructional breadth and the relational reach of someone who knows every student at that grade level. I know their strengths, their gaps, and what they need to feel like they belong. I once said I had no interest in teaching 6th grade or middle school. It has since become one of my favorite grades. 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 began at George Fox University, where I am completing my EdS and Principal Licensure program. Coursework in ethics, instructional supervision, law, policy, and family engagement pushed me to examine not just what I value, but how those values show up in systems, decisions, and structures.

My practicum projects gave me real opportunities to design and lead: building a SPED data tracking system, facilitating MAP professional development, leading math vision work, coaching a new teacher, and creating communication systems for families. I am not finishing this program as someone who learned about leadership. I am finishing it as someone ready to lead.

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Credentials:

• EdS + Principal Licensure · George Fox University · 2026

• Presenter · COSA Multilingual Conference · 2024 · 2025

• MA in Teaching · Pacific University · 2013

• BS in Education · University of Oregon · 2012