I wasn't born in Texas, but as the saying goes, I got here as fast as I could. I am a lifelong resident of the Dallas area. I am also a graduate of Southwestern University, where I earned a BA in Biology with a minor in Spanish. After many years in the classroom, I went back to school at The University of Texas at Dallas, where I earned a Master of Arts in Teaching degree with a concentration in Science Education. My ultimate educational goal is to earn a PhD in Science Education. I have been a classroom teacher for 15 years, and began my career in the Plano Independent School District, where I was named the 1999-2000 Secondary Teacher of the Year. While in PISD, I also served as a member of the curriculum leadership team, which was responsible for restructuring the district's biology curriculum that is currently in use there as well as other area school districts.
In 2003, I began teaching at Allen High School as the school's sole AP/IB Biology teacher and have enjoyed great success here. My students consistently achieve qualifying scores on AP and IB exams, as well as state standardized exams. What I am most proud of is that many of my students continue their studies in Biology at the undergraduate level, with a great many going on to pursue careers or graduate studies in Biology or a biology-related field. Some of them are even K-16 level science educators.
Science is not something simply learned in a classroom; there must be practical application of the facts and theories. For three summers, I was a ATP-ARP grant recipient from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which allowed me to serve as a guest researcher in the lab of Dr. Gregg Dieckmann of UT-Dallas. In Dr. Dieckmann's lab, I worked on projects involving manual synthesis of peptides used in de novo protein design as well as peptides used in MRI contrast agents.
I have also served Texas students in other capacities outside the classroom. I have served on TAKS test item and item data analysis review committees for the Texas Education Agency, and has authored test questions used on the TExES certification exam. Additionally, I have also written test items used on science exams in both California and Tennessee. The professional work I am most proud of is my work with the biology TEKS review committee. As a part of this committee, I helped to co-author the biology curriculum standards currently used in our state's public schools.
I have been a College Board AP Reader for the AP Biology exam since 2006 and have served as an independent science education consultant since 2007. Currently, I am the facilitator for Project Crawfish, a workshop taught at UT-Dallas that teaches biology educators how to implement an inquiry-based investigation into phylogenetics using biotechnology and bioinformatics protocols. One of the most important things I do is mentor others in the profession. I have always felt that my responsibility as an educator includes providing guidance for others, especially those just starting out. To this end, I have served as a supervisor for several student teachers, and have mentored many beginning and experienced teachers both in person and from a distance.
To keep up with current information in my profession, I have membership in several professional organizations devoted to life science education and education advocacy, such as NSTA, TABT, NABT, and TSTA/NEA. In 2010, I was honored to have been selected by a group of my colleagues to receive the 2010 Texas Association of Biology Teachers Outstanding Biology Teacher Award (OBTA), which was simultaneously humbling and flattering.
Outside of the classroom, I am an active member of the Southwestern University Alumni Association and serve the University as a Class Agent and Alumni Assembly Delegate. I also sit on the Board of the Dallas Area Southwestern Alumni Association, which actively seeks to promote the University within the Dallas community through events and community service events. I am a staunch supporter of my alma mater, and actively recruit prospective students. I am proud to say that several of my former students have attended Southwestern. My husband Jim, an art educator and I make our home in Plano, Texas. When I have free time, I enjoy cooking and learning to cook new cuisines, blogging about cooking, traveling, reading a good book, photography and spending time with family and friends. | 
