“I come from a long line of public educators and public servants, and I knew from a very young age that I wanted to continue the family tradition of being an educator. My passion for helping students began with volunteering in my aunt’s preschool, helping my mother set up her classroom each summer, and assisting with the school plays she helped produce every year. As a student, I witnessed firsthand the impact teachers have on their classrooms, students, and the world. There was never a doubt in my mind that I wanted to share my knowledge, skills, and passions with younger generations, as a way to say thank you to the positive influences I had growing up.

I am a proud graduate of Edinboro University and the University of Scranton, where I learned how to make learning fun while still teaching students the basics. I began my career teaching 6th-Grade Humanities, in the same classroom I had third and sixth grade in. I then moved on to roles as Dean of Students, Assistant Principal, and now Principal of both Solomon Elementary and Solomon Middle Schools in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. Wilkes-Barre Area is where I got my start as a kindergarten student, and it has been nearly 30 years that I have been a part of the district in one capacity or another. It was during my time in college, I learned the most important lesson I still live by today: “You belong in any room you walk into.” I think this advice has become part of my mission to educate, my style, and my approach. I want my students to understand that no matter who they are, where they come from, or what they have, they belong here. They belong in every room for a reason, and we must empower them to make the best of their time in our school.