I am a Springfield native who cares deeply for our community.  I developed a love of educating and working with youth as a lifeguard and swimming instructor.  During college at the State University of New York at Buffalo, I had set out to become a chemical engineer, but soon realized that I wanted to work with people.  I wanted to make a difference in people's lives, but most importantly, I wanted to be able to see the impact I was making.  I became a Science teacher because this career gives me the opportunity to make a real impact, and to see the progress of my students each and every day.

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My philosophy of education has been shaped by my own education and by my experiences in the classroom.  I started as a teacher in 2012-13, and over the years I have tried to make my classroom more and more student-centered.  As a student, my teachers usually lectured and students usually took extensive notes.  Now that I am the teacher, my focus is to put the students at the center of the learning, in an active role.  Therefore, students will be actively engaged in exploration, discussion, and research on a daily basis.  In my classroom, we are much more concerned with big picture questions than we are about memorizing facts. 

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In 2020, I began my role as Advance Teacher for Science at both Chestnut TAG and Chestnut Impact Prep. It is my sincere desire to turn around the state of Science education in Springfield and ope doors in STEM for my students who are generally underrepresented in these fields.  I hope that all of my students are challenged and supported in everything that they do.