I am grateful to begin my 6 th year as the Visual Arts Educator for our Eagles community. 2023-24 is my 10th year overall in public art education. I love facilitating the connections, ideas, and meaning students bring to the art making process.
In my own art practice, I like to quilt, knit, crochet, paint, and build paper mache structures. I love going to the wonderful array of art events and exhibitions Seattle offers—it keeps me inspired to bring new experiences to the students. I believe that art is for everyone and is made by everyone, and that students can be successful with inquiry centered around diverse art exposure across cultures, place, and time.
I started my teaching career in 2014 at James Baldwin Elementary (previously Northgate Elementary). I have taught 3rd through 5th grades, but this year, I will be supporting students and teachers in math.
Outside of school, I like to read, travel, and spend time with my family. I have 3 kids named Luca, Audrey, and Leo and 3 dogs named Cooper, Lani, and Roo!
I have been teaching since 2012, and joined the James Baldwin team in the Fall of 2017. James Baldwin is a wonderful school! We are small but mighty, with a highly skilled, dedicated staff of educators, curious and creative students, and supportive, courageous families. Together, we strive to live this idea:
"You have to love people for who they are . . . then they will be all they can be." Julia Alvarez, How Tia Lola Came to Visit (Stay).
I love connecting students with books and supporting them as they learn to read. If you want to know more about how we teach literacy at James Baldwin, you have questions about your child's reading, you need help getting more books and literacy resources at home, or you just want to talk about books, please contact me - I'd love to talk with you.
I teach K, 1 and 2 in the Primary Bilingual Orientation Center. This is a self contained classroom for students who are new to the United States and speak little or no English. I support them in learning English at an accelerated pace as well as helping them to acculturate to the United States.
I love the diverse students and staff at James Baldwin as well as the willingness of everyone (students included!) to help each other.
I have taught in the Primary BOC for 6 years. Before that I taught kindergarten in Highline School District for 7 years. I started my teaching career as a full time substitute. I subbed in schools all over the Seattle School District for 4 years.
Hi! I currently teach the 4th and 5th grades at James Baldwin Elementary. I started teaching 4th grade at Northgate Elementary (now James Baldwin Elementary) in 2013. Each year since then, I have either taught the 4th grade or a 4th/5th-grade split. Before moving to Seattle in 2013, I was a special-education teacher in Broward County, Florida at the middle school level. There, I taught the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Even before that, I was an attorney practicing, among other things, employment and discrimination law for nine years.
I believe that all students bring valuable experiences, insights, and talents to our classroom and school communities!
There are so many things I love about James Baldwin that I cannot possibly write them all here. Here are some of them: We have an amazingly diverse group of students, families, and staff. I also love being part of a classroom and school community which focuses on inclusivity to make sure everyone is learning and is being respected.
When I am not teaching (or preparing to teach), I love spending time at home with my husband and our two dogs. My husband and I are both very adventurous with seeking out and trying new cuisines. We also both enjoy exercising at the gym, paddle boarding, camping, and traveling.
