As the 2023-2024 school year begins, so does my 14th year at Shamokin Area. In my career here, I have taught English 9, English 10, English 10 Honors, English 11, English 11 Honors, Contemporary Novels, Mass Media, and Mythology. I was a 2016 recipient of the Shamokin Area School District Award of Excellence.

Prior to working at Shamokin Area, I worked 11 years at Mount Carmel Area, my alma mater, where I taught gifted classes, English 9, Advanced Composition, Honors English 11 and AP Literature. During my MCA career, a student nominated me for, and I received, the Russell Galt Award for Teaching Excellence from Susquehanna University.

While I LOVE TEACHING, it was not my first career. For ten years I worked as a general assignment reporter/photographer for The News-Item in Shamokin. In this position I covered spot news, school district and municipal meetings and wrote feature articles, as well as my own column. During my newspaper career I won a National Highway Safety Award for writing a 10-part, front page series on alcohol-related problems such as DUI and underage drinking.

In addition to being a graduate of Mount Carmel Area Junior-Senior High School, I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a concentration in journalism from Bloomsburg University. I also completed the Teacher Intern Program at Susquehanna University and earned certification in communications.

My husband Stuart and I are the proud parents of Ronnie, a Shamokin Area graduate and a fourth grade teacher in the Central Dauphin School District, and Sydney, a Shamokin Area graduate and current student at Bloomsburg University where she is majoring in accounting. Our family lives in the Shamokin Area School District.