My path into education began right here at Houghton. As an undergraduate intercultural studies major, I wanted to open doors on the mission field, and I have always enjoyed reading, so teaching felt like a natural fit for that work.

Over the past two decades, I have served as an ELA teacher, special educator, and literacy interventionist in K-12 schools, and have worked with in-service educators as a literacy and learning consultant and college instructor. My work with students with language-based learning disabilities across ages and settings has given me particular compassion and a specialty for striving readers and writers. I have come to see that learning communities in churches, classrooms, and homes are mission fields where each child and teacher bear God’s image and is worthy of creative, skilled, and hopeful instruction.

Returning to Houghton as a professor is a joy. Here, the Bible is our source of truth and foundation for understanding our Creator and His Creation, one another, and our world. As a committed lifelong learner and educator of 20 years, and follower of Christ, I am passionate about encouraging current and future educators to adopt dispositions of curiosity, deep engagement, and criticality as they approach research, standards, curriculum, assessment, and the real children and communities they serve. My hope is that every Houghton education graduate walks into the learning community where God has placed them ready to notice each learner’s strengths and needs and equipped to support and challenge them well.