Family
I have three sons and two daughter-in-laws. The oldest, James Paul, is an artist, teaching at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA. He is married to Sarah Tancred, who is also an artist and college professor. My middle son Jordan is a Methodist pastor, and he and his wife Alyssa serve at First UMC in Sioux Falls, SD. My youngest son, Parker, attends Black Hills State University in Spearfish and coaches baseball, nearly year-round. We have a Golden retriever named Harper Lee after the author of my favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Career
I was born in Chillicothe, Ohio but moved to Ft. Meade, SD when I was in third grade. I graduated from Sturgis Brown High School and then Black Hills State University with a secondary education degree, majoring in English and minoring in history. Prior to teaching 8th grade language arts at Belle Fourche Middle School, I taught English language arts in the communities of Glendive, MT; Casper, WY; and Newell, SD. Over the years, I have coached cheerleading, spelling team, oral interpretation, drama, and the school newspaper. I received my Master's in Curriculum and Instruction from BHSU in 2006 and my National Board Certification in Early Adolescent Language Arts in 2011. I am a member of the Building Leadership Team at BFMS and serve on the district-wide Data Leadership Team. In 2018, Black Hills Parent Magazine selected me as one of 5 Black Hills Teachers of Excellence. Then, I was honored to be named Belle Fourche School District Teacher of the year for 2017-18 and then as South Dakota Region 5 Teacher of the Year for 2019.
Hobbies
Besides my favorite hobby of grading papers, I enjoy reading, playing the piano, listening to music, working in my yard, and trying out new recipes in my kitchen! I also love to visit museums and historical sites as well as shop for shoes, especially sandals, as I dislike socks. I am the treasurer of Spearfish American Legion Baseball Board, and I follow my youngest son's Post 164 Teener team that he coaches. This baseball family follows the Minnesota Twins as well as plays board games, cooks, and watches movies together.