I fought for the success of every student and colleague, both in and outside of the classroom.

• Modeling: I designed and implemented a professional Leadership elective for upperclassmen. As students cannot repeat the course, I advised a new group each year and built their confidence and skills from the ground up. Their culminating project, BOLT, was an annual TED Talk-inspired, renowned community event I created to both challenge my students and unite our school.

• Empowerment: It wasn’t enough to encourage others; empowering those you serve to pass on knowledge was the way to implement positive change. My Leadership class created and led a bimonthly freshman mentor program by using the skills I instilled in them during our course. For the past decade, I have mentored new educators as they navigate the ups and downs of teaching.

• Mentorship: Being a student wasn’t a one-time deal: I work often with former students to coach and encourage post-graduate careers, make introductions, and more. I’m still in touch with students from every year of my career. My former student and longtime mentee Gabby D. shares:

  • “Because of her I quickly learned being a leader isn't about being the loudest person in the room, it's not about telling everyone what to do all the time…it's really about becoming an expert in your own right and in your own interest. Because of her I learned that for me that's women's sport — so much so that I [recently started] my first full-time job post-grad with the Portland Trail Blazers, and none of that would be possible without her.”

• Support: A teacher’s role extends beyond instruction. I often connected students and families with essential social services and mental health resources.

• Equity: As Faculty Adviser for the Diversity Committee, my role was to increase representation and celebrate the voices of the historically-marginalized and underrepresented. My hundreds of hours of training and expertise in culturally-responsive teaching, multilingual communication, equity, and other DEI initiatives mean that I can both have hard conversations and focus work on what’s right.