I was born on Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois but didn’t stay in the Midwest for long. My parents returned to their native California, which I’ve called home until very recently. I grew up near San Diego then headed north to attend Stanford University. I majored in English and loved being a student! I wanted to share that love of learning with others, so I decided to become a teacher. I moved across the San Francisco Bay to Berkeley to pursue a teaching credential and Masters in Education at the University of California, Berkeley. I loved “Bezerkley” so much that I stayed there for nine years and taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders for five years in Albany (a town just north of Berkeley). I then decided to take a little break from teaching and expand my experience a bit. I worked as a Marketing Assistant for a book distributor of independent publishers and had the great fortune of meeting Charles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain, and Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall, at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. It was a fun detour, but I missed working with children and soon met someone who would change my course yet again.

In 1998 I met my husband, Jonathan, and a year later we moved to his hometown of Santa Barbara, CA. We both taught at the same K-8 school (in adjacent bungalows, actually) for five years and enjoyed the time to work together. Since the day I met Jonathan, he had shared his fond memories of summers and two years living in Maine. He lived in Cushing when he was in eighth grade. At the end of that year his parents bought a house in Thomaston and returned for Jonathan’s tenth grade year. He always entertained thoughts of living here again. After a few summer visits and one glorious Christmas, I too felt the draw. So we bought a house in Thomaston in March 2003 and moved in the summer of 2004! 

I absolutely love it here! I have met such friendly people, and I am enchanted with the scenery and the changing seasons. I am thrilled to be working in a progressive district and look forward to collaborating with such a fine group of educators. I am especially looking forward to working with the students at St. George School and Georges Valley High School! What a great opportunity to work with students across the grades!