I am the daily STREAM Teacher at the Okell middle school campus at NDA and have the pleasure to teach our 6th-8th grade Saints.  

What is S.T.R.E.A.M. you ask? The acronym stands for science, technology, reading and religion, engineering, the arts, and mathematics. In short, my class is the marriage of applying the knowledge they learn in their other classes to real life, with a huge focus on entrepreneurship, and business development. Life skills such as maintaining a bank account, balancing a bank account, writing checks, applying and interviewing for classroom jobs, even running our class store and receiving paychecks via direct deposit are just a few of the student-led highlights that are year long in my class. We also do a lot of hands on building, constructing, and coding as well. Paper airplanes, bridges, mini-cities, plants and agriculture, board and video games, creating and developing new businesses, artifical intelligence, and flying drones are all some of the many lessons learned in my class while working in groups and solidifying the bonds that make us all NDA Saints.

Teaching has always been a true passion for me. I was fortunate enough to graduate both middle and high school from Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts where I was a dance major from 5th grade through my senior year. In addition to dance and the many genres I have mastered,  I am also very athletic excelling in Volleyball, softball, soccer, hockey, tennis, and track. The teachers and coaches I had made huge impacts on me and gave me every opportunity to succeed which allowed me to join a dance company and perform in NYC on some of the biggest stages the theater world has to offer. Injuries unfortunately plagued my professional dancing career, in 2003 I moved back to Buffalo and attended Buffalo State College so I could give back to our youth the way my wonderful teachers gave to me. In 2007, I began working at GEICO as a licensed insurance agent, earning not only my NYS resident property and casualty insurance license, but also worked for my non-resident licenses in NJ, MA, VT, NH, ME, CT, FL, TX, CA, MD, RI, SC, PA, NC, and GA. I worked as both a service agent and sales agent and sat on the board for philanthropic donation approvals for GEICO until 2022 where I decided my calling of being a teacher was beckoning. I left the insurance industry and have not once looked back.

 My one and only goal is to be the teacher to my students, that my amazing teachers and coaches were to me. For the lessons they learn and topics we go over in class stick with them and help guide them in life. To give them every opportunity I can and watch them succeed as they move from middle school on. This same passion I have in class I am also bringing to the clubs I will be moderating this upcoming year in our Media club and Volleyball club.

I can't wait to see what your student(s) will achieve with the opportunities I can help provide!!