Retired English Teacher/Current Freelance Writer and Photographer
Experience
Retired Teacher Franklin High School, Elk Grove Unified School District
June 2017-May 2024
Intervention English teacher, Student Equity Council adviser, Garden Club/Project adviser, English learner program teacher, special education and general education teacher. Wrote school grants for after school programs and garden program, member school site council, district Assessment Steering Committee, PLC Committee, co-chair accreditation focus group for assessment.
Visiting Educator California Department of Education
July 2008-August 2009
Worked in Special Education Division, focused monitoring and technical assistance unit providing guidance to school districts. Participated in verification reviews at school districts and county juvenile court schools. Assisted with data collected for state WorkAbility I program. Reviewed 21st Century After-School Program and NCLB-mandated tutoring program applications for state funding.
Consultant and Teacher Hemet Unified School District
1998-2008
Oversaw state verification review for school district’s Special Education Department. Cleared majority of district’s non-compliance issues. Coordinated program corrections, worked with district department heads and legal counsel to write special education procedures, compiled district procedural handbook, worked with district’s technology department to rewrite Student Support Services website and made presentations at leadership meetings.
Also, taught freshman English, junior literature, special education, career education, basic skills, and intervention classes in the alternative education setting. Ran special education program for students in continuation and adult school classes. Acted as district’s alternative education specialist for meetings at comprehensive high schools. Collaborated with California Department of Rehabilitation, California Employment Development Department, and Workforce Investment Act-funded community programs to teach job skills and match students with employers.
Journalist/Writer Various newspapers and publications
Prior to teaching and freelancing during teaching career
Published in The Sacramento Business Journal, Dandelion, The Sacramento Bee, Cal State San Bernardino Magazine, Phi Delta Kappan, The Los Angeles Times, Boys’ Life, The Press-Enterprise, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Outdoor California and Tracks. Co-winner of 2007 California State Information Officers Council gold award for writing (freelance work for state Department of Fish and Wildlife). Assisted CDFW with researching and writing a special publication on the salmon crisis.
I hold a grant writing certificate from Cal State San Bernardino and have written numerous school grants, including a grant to create a district technical and applied science charter high school in Hemet and the WorkAbility I grant for Hemet special education students.
Worked as a full-time newspaper reporter at The (Fairfield) Daily Republic, The Antioch Ledger/Pittsburg Post-Dispatch, The Sacramento Union, and The (Riverside) Press-Enterprise covering a variety of beats, including police, courts, cities, schools, military, the environment, and the elderly.
Was press secretary in 1997 for then-Riverside County Supervisor Jim Venable’s successful campaign for office.
Education
Master’s Degree, Special Education, California State University, San Bernardino (and special education teaching credential for K-12 with autism certification)
School Administrator Credential, California State University, Sacramento
Teaching credential (English), University of Redlands
Grant writing certification, California State University, San Bernardino Extension
Bachelor’s Degree, Journalism with French minor, University of Montana, Missoula
Associate’s Degree, Photography, Sacramento City College
Community Activities
Member, City of Elk Grove Disability Advisory Committee
Renaissance Program, Sacramento State University, assisting with communications committee
Member, California Retired Teachers Association
Elk Grove Water District Citizen’s Academy 2025
Member, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators