Our 6th & 7th grade ELA curriculum gives students the opportunity to dig deep into academic topics that matter by using authentic, worthy texts. Our emphasis is on project-based, expeditionary learning. In and out of the classroom, we encourage the creation of lifelong habits of character as well as the development of critical social and emotional skills. We emphasize small groups and mentoring support as an instruction style, allowing students to develop their growth mindset while rising to the challenge of Utah's grade level standards. We encourage students to invest in their education and become leaders of their own learning.
I’m a California native, and while it’s been hard to weather the chilly winters, I’ve fallen in love with the Wasatch mountains, and I especially love the view of them from our campus. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English, I attended Weber State University to get my Master’s Degree specializing in British Victorian Literature. I especially love the spooky stories from Gothic tales, like Dracula (1897) and Frankenstein (1817).
I became an adjunct professor through the graduate program and taught Intermediate College Writing for several years, even receiving recognition for my innovative teaching style from the university's English Department. I also worked as a professional technical writer for a company in the area that published product reviews, similar to Consumer Reports, but my passion was teaching, and I wanted to pursue it full time. In 2018, I took a position at Catalyst Residential Treatment Center as a High School English instructor. I loved my time there and incorporated hands-on learning projects, like class plays and a poetry slam into the curriculum. I love project-based learning and find it one of the many features that I appreciate about Greenwood. My baby was born at the end of March 2020, and I decided to take an extended maternity leave to care for him.
When I am not teaching, I enjoy listening to podcasts about history, art, and current events. I, of course, love reading. I also enjoy rock climbing, biking, yoga, and walking in the foothills near my house. I try to honor my family heritage of gardening; although, I’m not sure I inherited a green thumb. My favorite way to spend my time is with my people, especially my husband and toddler.
I’m so happy to have the privilege of teaching at Greenwood this year. I love the Expeditionary Learning model and think our school’s values, like mindfulness, eco-stewardship, healthy habits, and growth mindset encourage students to become lifelong learners.
To use books rightly, is to go to them for help; to appeal to them when our own knowledge and power fail; to be led by them into wider sight and purer conception than our own, and to receive from them the united sentence of the judges and councils of all time, against our solitary and unstable opinions.