This is my 16th year. I started off at Corporate Landing as a second-grade teacher. I taught there for nine years. Then I became a math specialist. I was a math specialist at Christopher Farms and Landstown, and then I came to Teaching and Learning with Dr. Cashwell.
What do you like about math?
I think what I like most about math is that it’s applicable to everyday life and people don’t really think about it as much. We have a big push for literacy, which is super important, but numeracy is just as important. And especially as we build our students toward STEM-related fields, we have to have the foundation in mathematics. So all of the conceptual understanding and the problem solving that needs to happen in math has been there all along and we use it every day, but we don’t necessarily realize that we’re using it. So I think that piece of pushing something that’s, I guess, maybe in some ways underappreciated, gives me passion.
What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
Outside of work right now I’m sort of consumed with my kids and their sports, but I love sports so I like to also work out and run and do all those kinds of things for myself. I have a 9-year-old and a 12-year-old and they play basketball, which is my favorite. I played in college and played pretty much recreationally until a couple years ago. And then the younger one plays soccer and the older one plays softball, so I stay pretty busy with them. And then I try to squeeze in a workout whenever I can. I like to do pretty much anything: lifting weights, running, riding my bike, kayaking, anything outdoorsy.
Where did you play basketball in college?
I actually grew up in upstate New York, so I came down here and played at Lynchburg College. Loved it. I redshirted my freshmen year because I tore my ACL and then played three years and had a great time. I wasn’t really a natural athlete. I really had to work at basketball but I loved it. I had great coaches and people who were in my life who really influenced me. I kept playing, I still had a passion. My undergraduate degree is actually sports management because I wanted to be a college basketball coach. And then I realized: there is no money in this, no life.
I came out here, I played in the Pro-Am a couple of summers. Then I coached. I was a coach at Cape Henry for a little while, the JV team, until I had my oldest daughter and then I stopped coaching. And now I just coach their rec teams because I love it so much. I’ve been coaching my youngest since she was 6 and she’s 12 now, and she’s quite the basketball player. She made the Plaza team as a sixth-grader; I’m very proud of her.
Is there anything else you’d want people to know about you?
I am busy but I do like to relax. I like the beach. Who doesn’t? You live here for that reason, right?
