I am a National Board Certified teacher with ten years of experience teaching in a large public high school in the South, now working as a coordinator for the Smithsonian Learning Lab. I taught Social Studies (primarily United States History and World Religions) and enjoyed the challenge of working with a range of students, including Advanced Placement, English as a Second Language, and Deaf and visually-impaired students. I gained a lot from mentoring new and beginning teachers through partnership with the Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill MAT programs, and I continue to grow in that area as a teacher-coach with the Learning Lab.

My current role also gives me an opportunity to build on my experience developing Social Studies curriculum. In the past, I’ve participated in curriculum development with the Durham Public Schools district, the Nasher Art Museum, through professional development seminars with Gilder Lehrman, the National Humanities Center, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and through an extensive partnership between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the American Battle Monuments Commission focused on World War I in France.

My recent work with the Smithsonian Learning Lab has sparked an interest in the ways that schools, museums, and libraries can work together to provide equitable access to engaging and meaningful learning opportunities. As such, I’ve helped to begin the Steel City History Collaborative. I hope to work with other educators in the Pittsburgh area to develop new opportunities for all students to think deeply about history, linking their learning to their own lives, and to support excellence in teaching. I appreciate uses of educational technology that increase exposure to cultural resources and deepen communication, and I want to work on projects and for people who understand that.