About the Assistant Principal
for Grades 7-9
Childhood
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, I spent my early childhood also living in Alabama, Ohio and West Virginia. Most of my “growing up” years occurred in New Jersey. While in high school I took all the art courses I could fit in my schedule, although at the time I thought that I wanted to be a nurse. Fondest childhood memories include embracing the surf and dunes of Long Beach Island, sailing a small boat my dad built for me, ice-skating, and celebrating Christmas.
The Making of an Artist
& Art Teacher
While in my first year at Boston University School of Nursing, I discovered that some girls in my dorm were majoring in art at BU. That spring, I initiated a transfer to BU’s School of Fine Arts and pursued a major in painting. A couple of years after graduating, my husband and I started raising a family in central Massachusetts. I continued to paint and exhibit my work, attended classes at Rhode Island School of Design, and gave private lessons.
About ten years later, we moved to Maine with our three children, and I became an art teacher in the public schools. My career as an art teacher continued for about 20 years, and we had our fourth child. It was a wonderful time of painting, gardening, chickens, ducks, tree houses, and children.
The Evolution of an Administrator
We moved from Maine to New Hampshire in 2000, and I entered the Education Leadership program at Keene State College to pursue my administrative interests. My administrative internship included some work in Vermont, and I developed a deep interest in the adolescent learner. For two summers I instructed courses in middle level education at Keene State College. Then I returned to the western mountains of rural Maine for my first principalship in a pre-K to grade 6 school of about 340 students. Now with broadened experience in education, I am excited to be working with the team of educators at Oxbow High School and serving the unique needs of students in grades 7-9.