Question 1: What do you teach at PHS?


I teach world history, college in the high school, US history, and civics.

Question 2: How long have you been working here or in general? Both?


 This is my 16th year at PHS. And I’ve been at PHS for my entire teaching career.

Question 3: 
Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Kennewick. 

Question 4: What are your favorite hobbies?

I like to read. 
And I like to go outside, and in the winter, I like to go skiing with my family. I have a really intense yard, so I sort of like gardening until, like, September, when I’m really tired of pulling weeds. Yeah, I like being outside. 

Question 5: What made you become a teacher?

I always wanted to be a teacher. I was like one of those weird kids who wanted to be a teacher from the beginning, because I liked school. 
But when I was little, I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, and then as I got older, I decided that little children are scary. So I no longer wanted to be an elementary school teacher. And so then I wanted to be a high school teacher when I was in high school. 
And so then I had to decide, well, what would I teach? And for a long time, I wanted to be an English teacher. And then I realized that if I were an English teacher, I would have to read really garbage essays for the rest of my life. 
And that sounded unpleasant. So then it was just a process of elimination. I can’t do math. 
I mean, I can do math, but I don’t like doing math. And science was on a level that I was not on. So I like history. 
So that was kind of how I got here.

Question 6: Who inspires you the most as a teacher?

 My students. I like being here. 
I always have every year some students are like, “why would you want to do this?” And the answer is that I like kids and I like teenagers, and they make me laugh, and they keep me entertained, and they challenge me, and so all of that is like really stimulating for my brain. And my brain likes that. 


Question 7: What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I don’t know. I’m a pretty open book. 
 I used to be really into knitting. Like, there are a lot of teachers here that I have knit baby blankets and things for.
But I have never knit anything for my own child or kids.

Question 8: What’s your favorite memory?

 Probably just memories with my child. I’m a big fan of him.
Growing up over the years with him.

Question 9: What accomplishments mean the most to you?

Well, if you know anything about Enneagrams. Enneagrams are kind of like personality things. But my Enneagram is I’m a three, which is like an achiever. 
So like, I like when people tell me that I’ve done a good job or something like that or when like students or the other day I got a really nice compliment from another staff member and it like gave me all the warm feelings and things like that. So just when like people acknowledge my hard work or tell me that I’ve made a difference.