I am a lifelong educator, though in my childhood I would have told you that I wanted to be a detective (thanks, Nancy Drew) or an innkeeper (not sure where that one came from). Luckily, I realized that teaching is a profession where I can exercise both my mystery-solving and community-building skills. I believe that my two most important tasks as an educator are to build an inclusive and safe school environment where all students feel at home, and to puzzle out the unique strengths and needs of each child in my care, solving the “case” of how to best inspire and support their academic and social-emotional development. My practice is rooted in my deep respect for children: I strive to know and love them for just who they are, surround them with stimulating possibilities, and empower them to discover their passions, raise their voices, and take responsible action as changemakers striving to make a positive impact on their community.

Over 25 years in education, I have been a teacher, a school librarian, an education consultant, and a division head. In all these roles, I have done my best to live my core values of empathy, justice, and reflection. One foundation of my practice is my belief that being a good person requires one to walk through the world looking for similarities and differences. I can trace this belief back to the influence of one of my own teachers, a brilliant and kind educator who gave me a book of essays by the poet Adrienne Rich when I graduated from high school. Rich claims that the ability to craft metaphors, to find the underlying similarities that exist between even those ideas and people that may seem completely opposite, is the beginning of both creativity and empathy. Ever since I received this gift, I have been unwavering not only in my love of metaphor but in my commitment to honoring diversity and building inclusive communities. The rich array of perspectives from which we learn in a diverse school empowers all of us to be the best learners and the best humans we can be—culturally competent, open-minded and accepting, empathetic and respectful, and ready to work together toward a more just and equitable world.