As a Teacher Leader, I like to think outside the walls of my class/training rooms and I look to see what impact I can make on not only my students, but on other classrooms, the school, and the community.

SOUTH HAVEN DIGITAL DESIGN CLASS PROJECTS, 2015-2016

SOUTH HAVEN (SH) GARDEN CLUB YEARBOOK DESIGN

• Introduced students to service learning project for the SH Garden Club

• Led Project Based Learning through the creation of components for the club’s annual yearbook

• Demonstrated best practices for students in design, creation, and presentation

• Collaborated with Garden Club leaders to establish project design criteria

SHPS CHROMEBOOK BACKGROUND DESIGN PROJECT

• Created collaboration with school district leaders

• Modeled Graphic Design Process for class

• Led students through a mock design process

• Established guidelines for design project

SOUTH HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL NEW CLASSES, 2015-2016

For the 2015-2016 school year, the South Haven High School administration added a Digital Design class and a Computer Aided Design class to the course offerings; I was the teacher selected to design the curriculum and teach those classes.

AMERICA ACHIEVES MICHIGAN EDUCATORS VOICE FELLOW, 2015-2016

During the summer of 2015, I applied for the Michigan Educators Voice Fellowship and was one of only a handful of educators in the state to be chosen for the fellowship. Through the course of the fellowship, I have also had the opportunity to be on one of the featured projects, The Technology Dream Team. Because of this fellowship, I have been able to attend outstanding professional development sessions, and I have learned how to use my voice as an educator and also how to network with other educators.

SOUTH HAVEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLLABORATIONS, 2014-2015

In any class, there are a multitude of ways for educators to expand the walls of their classroom to include other classes and the community; this helps to further the student’s understanding of the topics learned. During the 2014-2015 school year, my classes were able to do a couple of these projects.

INTRO TO APPLIED ARTS/PROJECT LEAD THE WAY (PLTW) DESIGN COLLABORATION, SPRING 2015

My first year applied arts students collaborated with the first year PLTW engineering class in our high school to design and build prototypes of possible Chromebook storage solutions; this project took students through the entire design process, including the prototyping and presenting process.

CRAYONS FOR KIDS TOY CAR PROJECT, NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2014

In November 2014, my Intro to Applied Arts classes collaborated with a third grade class at one of the district’s elementary schools to build toy cars to be delivered to the Crayons for Kids organization; the toys were then distributed at the Bronson Children’s Hospital in Kalamazoo, MI. Students in my class applied their woodworking skills to build the cars, used teamwork to collaborate with their third grade counterparts, then used teaching skills to help the third graders assemble the cars.

CLASSROOM GRANTS, 2006-2016

Every educator will say at some point in their career that they wished they had more funding; I took that wish and have made it a reality for my classroom. In my first 10 years in education, I was able to secure over 10 grants and special district project funding totaling over $90,000; this money was used to add technology into the classroom, build new learning environments, and implement new curriculum. Much of this funding was used to create the Hartech Learning Center while I was teaching at Hartford High School.