Since graduating from the University of Michigan-Flint in 2004 with a Bachelors of Science in Art Education, I have been interested in engaging students with new and innovative practices in the classroom. Over the past 21 years, I have used my classroom as a touchstone for what is possible when we share, collaborate, experiment, and create connected learning experiences.
My students' work has been featured in Davis Publications, Media Arts book, The Scholastic Teacher's Website, SchoolArts Magazine and the MACUL Journal. I have been a Cultivating a Calling keynote for ECET2, a keynote presenter for the Art Education Association of Indiana Conference, the Ohio Art Education Association Conference, as well as presenter for the National Art Education Conference, Michigan Art Education Association Conference and Summer PD, the Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning Conference, and local educational institutions. I also served as the Visual Arts Team Leader for the Michigan Arts Education Instruction and Assessment (MAEIA) Program where we developed blueprints, audit tools, and assessments linked to Michigan Visual Arts standards for K-12 programs.
My classroom has won local and national recognition in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, awarded various grants, as well as receiving a 2nd place award for the use of educational technology in the 2011 PBS Innovation Awards and first place for the 2013 STEAMed Innovator Awards. I was also named a 2014 PBS Learning Media Digital Innovator, 2015 Michigan Art Education Association Middle Level Educator of the Year, 2015 National Art Education Association Western Region Middle Level Educator of the Year, and 2020 MACUL Innovative Teacher of the Year Award. I am currently serving as a NAEA CAN PLC Teacher Leader.
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