I grew up in Dayton, Ohio, where I attended Catholic schools for 12 years. After earning a Bachelor
of Science in Elementary Education from Wright State University in 1972, I taught for one year in the Dayton
Public Schools. In 1973 my husband and I moved to Columbus. I have taught in three Catholic schools in this
area - St. Aloysius, St. Patrick school in London, Ohio, and St. Brendan. In 1994 I earned a Masters in
Educational Theory and Practice with an emphasis in Reading and Children’s Literature from the Ohio
State University. I applied for and was chosen to participate in the Summer Institute on Writing and
Teaching at Wright State University for the 1996 and 1997 sessions. I have taught children in grades
4 through 8 and most subjects, with the exceptions of math and music. I especially enjoy learning and
teaching about my faith and have taught religion classes in parish religious education programs for
children and adults as well as in the Catholic school setting.
My own three children have long since grown up, and I am now the proud "Nanna" of two beautiful little
granddaughters, Elliott Jane and Harper Anne. My husband and I recently realized a long-time dream of ours,
building a new home on a wooded lot near West Jefferson, Ohio. I can walk in the woods every day and fall
asleep at night with cricket and cicada songs in my head. In addition to walking in the woods, I enjoy reading,
gardening, traveling, and spending time with my family.
I am proud to be a teacher at St. Brendan School where each child is a valued member of the
community, and students are held to high standards of educational excellence. American essayist Agnes
Repplier once wrote, “It is because of our unassailable enthusiasm, our profound reverence for education,
that we habitually demand of it the impossible. The teacher is expected to perform a choice and varied series
of miracles.” Each day I open my classroom door and step inside determined that I will work miracles, that I will
teach and reach each child, that I will somehow be able to communicate my faith in a loving and merciful God
and my passion for the written word to my students. On the good days, little miracles do happen.