EXPERIENCE

Teaching Positions:

• 1999 - 2019 - Special Education Teacher/ EBD Unit Teacher at Rowan County Middle School

• 2019- 2021 - Special Education Teacher at McBrayer Elementary

• 2021-Present - Special Education Teacher at Rowan County Senior High School

Professional Experiences:

• 2015  Participated in the Center for Teacher Quality VOICE (Virtual Organizers Inspiring Communities of Educators) training 

• 2016  Completed two years with the Hope Street Group Kentucky Teacher Fellowship 

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• 2016 RCMS Schools to Watch Leadership Team 

• 2016 Helped develop and implement school-wide Project Based Learning - Soup Kitchen/Food Scarcity Community Activities 

• 2016-2017 Developed a Leadership Retreat at RCMS for school and community members 

• 2016 - present Published Writings/Op-Eds in The Kentucky Teacher, The Courier Journal, The Daily Independent, and with the National Association of School Boards of Education 

• ECET2KY (Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers) Conference presenter, keynote speaker, design team, and lead ·

• KTITK Conference for A Cause Developer and Lead Planner - a benefit conference for a Kentucky School Employee and professional learning opportunity for educators, administrators, and instructional assistants. 

• Presenter for the Council For Exceptional Children Conference, Special Education and Regional Coops, Next Gen. Conference, and at district opening day professional learning events. 

• Developed and implemented a successful Behavior Intervention Levels System copied and used by several surrounding districts 

• Participant in the US Department of Education's Teach to Lead Summit in Long Beach California

• 2016- Present Worked with Legislators to both write and make laws/policies on dyslexia; This work was the catalyst for the LETRs training now being implemented statewide. 

• 2017 - Presented about Dyslexia with Miss Kentucky on the Floor of the Kentucky House and Senate

• 2019 - Presented to the Kentucky Legislative Joint Education Committee 

• 2022-2023 Helped develop and implemented the RCSHS Student Success Team 

• 2022 Guided students through a Project Based Learning Activity; The RCSHS Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony

• 2022 - Participated in the Coalition to Save The Teaching Profession

• 2022- present Teacher Member of the PBIS Committee at RCSHS

• 2023 - Spoke in the Capitol Rotunda at the Coalition to Save the Teaching Profession’s Press Conference for KASA

• 2024 - Provided Professional Learning around Diversity, Enquiry, and Inclusion to the faculty of Rowan County Senior High School

• 2024  Spoke at all three of the Kentucky Student Voice Team Bus Tour stops against Amendment 2 (Lexington, Frankfort, and Louisville)

• 2024 - Spoke to the Women’s Association about Dyslexia and needs of special education students in eastern Kentucky. 

• 2024  Participated in a virtual conversation with US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Bernice King from the Martin Luther King Jr. Society out of Washington D.C. 

People/Groups/Associations I have worked with:

• Dr. Stephen Pruitt, Former Commissioner of Education in Kentucky

• Dr. Jason Glass, Former Commissioner of Education in Kentucky

• Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman

• Governor Andy Beshear

• Dr. Lou Young, Former Chair of the Kentucky Board of Education 

• Dr. Sharon Porter Robinson, Chair of the Kentucky Board of Education

• Dr. Aaron Thompson, President of the Council on Postsecondary Education

• Dr.  Thomas Woods - Tucker, Department of Education’s Deputy Commissioner and first Chief Equity Officer

• Rhonda Caldwell, Executive Director of the Kentucky Association of School Administrators

• Dr. Jim Flynn, Executive Director of the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents

• Eric Kennedy, former representative of the Kentucky School Board Association

• NASBE, National Association of School Boards of Education

• US Department of Education Teach to Lead

• Smithsonian Rural Initiative Focus Group

• Martin Luther King Jr. Society in D.C.

• Representative Tinah Bojanowski

• Representative Cherlyn Stevenson

• Representative and Chief Advisor to the Governor, Rocky Adkins

• Representative Adia Wuchner

• Representative Killian Timoney

• Representative Richard White

• Representative James Tipton

• Senator Robin Webb

• Senator Steven West

• Senator Reginald Thomas

• The Coalition to Save the Teaching Profession