I am a literacy educator with 26+ years of experience as a high school and middle school Langauge Arts teacher, high school media specialist, and technology integration specialist. I am currently an 8th grade Language Arts teacher at Chestatee Academy in Gainesville, Georgia.

I served Cherokee County Schools as a Language Arts teacher, technology specialist, and media specialist between 1992 and 2012. I was recognized for my teaching excellence twice with the Golden Apple Teaching Award during my twenty year tenure with CCSD. In 2006, I opened and established The Unquiet Library program at Creekview High; this program received numerous state and national awards and recognition during the seven years I ran the program. I was recognized as the School Librarian of the Year for the state of Georgia in 2010; I was also the winner of the Exemplary High School Media Program for the state of Georgia in 2011. In addition, I was selected as a 2011 Library Journal Mover and Shaker.

In January 2013, I was hired as the Learning Strategist for the Cleveland Public Library. After my mother was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer, I returned home to Georgia in July 2013 to care for my mother while working as a media specialist at Norcross High in the Gwinnett County Public School District. During my time at Norcross High, my fellow media specialist Jennifer Lund and I led a renovation of the media center space while completing a major weeding and overhaul of the print collection.

In 2015, I took over as media specialist at Chattahoochee High School in Johns Creek, Georgia where I helped lead a renovation of the library that took place during the summer of 2016. I established an instructional program for the media center that included significant teaching partnerships with teachers and students in Fine Arts, Language Arts, and ESOL. I was also recognized with a faculty award for creativity in November 2015. In addition to implementing a new attendance tracking software program for the media center program, I also completed a significant clean-up of the library catalog and print collection. I also won a grant for $1000 from the school PTA program to purchase e-books for our Gale Virtual Library. My efforts and leadership were recognized with an exemplary annual evaluation.

In 2016, I decided to return to the Language Arts classroom and served as the Title I writing teacher at Chestatee Academy in Gainesville as well as an 11th and 12th Language Arts teacher at Lanier High in Gwinnett County before returning to Chestatee for the 2018-19 school year. I have received an annual rating of exemplary the last three years; my evaluations are available upon request.

I’m passionate about creating meaningful learning experiences for learners of all ages. I’m a 2011 Library Journal Mover and Shaker who loves dogs, shopping, running, music, and poetry. I previously blogged at The Unquiet Librarian and for DMLCentral; you can read about my current adventures and reflections as a literacy educator at Living in the Layers.