I was born on February 2nd, 1967, in Biloxi, Mississippi. I was fortunate to have a father who was in the Air Force which brought us to Puerto Rico for six years and the Philippines for two. My mother was Hispanic and Spanish was our first language. During our time in Puerto Rico my brothers and I learned how to dive for lobsters, sail, surf, and fish. In the Philippines we experienced life under Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator president of the Philippines at the time, who ruled by authoritative government and martial law.
We then moved to Indian Hills, Colorado, just outside of Evergreen. At age 8 my mother passed away, leaving my two brothers and me behind. Having my dad away most of the time because of his job, the responsibility of taking care of my younger brothers fell onto my shoulders. We shared the responsibility of taking care of our horses, chickens, pigs, and buffalo, getting breakfast ready before school, making lunches, and doing the laundry. With our mom gone life took a dramatic change that resulted in all of us growing up faster then we wanted. It was during this time that a teacher and my Principal began to make an impact on my life.
My 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Homer, and my Principal, Mr. Swanson, took an active interest in my life shortly after my mother’s death. Between the two of them, they gave me the support and direction that I needed to survive. Mrs. Homer made sure that I had something to eat everyday as well as someone to talk to when I needed a good listener. Mr. Swanson taught me how to tie flies for fly fishing and sent me to two leadership camps, both placing me on a path that impacted the rest of my life.
My father remarried two years later, bringing two wonderful sisters, and another awesome brother into our lives. Of course, adapting to having a step mom after being alone for two years was a challenge to say the least. Yet we managed to become a strong family that has grown by thirteen grandchildren to date.
Hunting and fishing have had a huge impact on my life. As a child, hunting and fishing was a method of putting food on the table, a necessity for us to survive. If we were not successful in the field, we did not eat as well. Now, the outdoors is my opportunity to recharge and refocus, as well as the venue for family connections. We take pride in our respect for nature and the skills we learned growing up. I have been lucky enough to compete in Field and Stream’s Total Outdoorsman Challenge for the past two years and I will be competing again in September. This is a national competition between outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen who compete in several different sportsman events.
In high school I was directed by my counselor towards the military, even though I had scored 27 on my ACT’s and was in advanced math and literacy classes. Although my father had been in the military, I was more interested in a university so I researched schools on my own and was fortunate to attend Colorado State University, where I received my Bachelor of Science in Mathematics as well as my teaching certificate. This personal experience is one of the primary reasons why I believe every student can be successful in college and deserves the support and guidance to get there.
Paying my own way through college resulted in many jobs throughout my collegiate career, ranging from bartender, bouncer, and waiter, to working at a Mini Mart and as an ice-skating rink guard. But the best experience I had was managing a rafting company. My first summer after my freshman year, I learned how to guide customers down the Colorado, Arkansas, and Poudre Rivers. For the next ten years I took people from all over the world down Colorado’s infamous rapids, including a sixteen-day trip down the Grand Canyon, and learning how to run a company along the way.
After college I landed my first teaching job in St. Thomas, Virgin Island as a girl’s softball coach, mathematics, and computer teacher at St. Peter and Paul High School. After returning to the states, I taught mathematics at Holy Family High School as well as coached the high school wrestling team. I was then offered an opportunity to work with learning and behavioral disorder students at a private school, Denver Academy, where I taught Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. I continued my coaching with their wrestling team and started a side business creating web sites for businesses. During my time at Denver Academy, I continued my education and received my Masters in Education and Technology. I continued to take advantage of opportunities and moved to the Blue Ribbon award winning school, Cresthill Middle School, where I learned about team teaching, and cross content integration in the classroom. I had the pleasure of coaching the football team to an undefeated season, publishing the school newspaper, as well as the school yearbook.
After many years in education I was lured away by business and recruited to work for a publishing company where I stayed for many years. I sharpened my technology skills, learned more about business, and taught students of all ages, from middle school to adults, how to use professional publication software. Although my salary was higher than at any previous time in my life, I continuously thought back on how I missed education. So after a lot of self-reflection, I went back to the classroom as a mathematics teacher at Adams City High School in Commerce City and continued my education to receive my administrator licensing.
At Adams City High School, I had the pleasure of working under Fred Applewhite, a long time administrator out of Denver Public Schools and someone for whom I have the highest respect. Under him I learned about what it means to be an administrator and how to guide every decision based upon what is best for the students. I became his Assistant Principal, overseeing the mathematics department, athletics, activities, facilities, security, and assessments. I helped begin the implementation process of Small Learning Communities, assisting in the overseeing of the Small Learning Community Gates grant that Adams City had received. After Mr. Applewhite retired and after several successful years at Adams City, I was offered an opportunity to be an Assistant Principal at Hinkley High School.
I consider my time at Hinkley as my moment of learning and vindication. After being an Assistant Principal for one year, I was offered the Principal position. For the next three years my team, staff, stakeholders, and students implemented Small Learning Communities, created an environment of college readiness, aligned common planning for teachers, brought $2-$2.5 million dollars in scholarships a year for graduates, increased our retention rates, our graduation rate, and our ACT scores. We reduced the dropout rate, and increased the number of students who continued on to post secondary education. The Morgridge Foundation recognized our achievement and awarded us a $250,000.00 grant to install Promethean technology into the classrooms and train our teachers to use them. The Hinkley community was able to change not only the inside, but also the outside. Hinkley is now perceived by the outside community as a school that prepares students for college.
People ask why I chose to come to Montbello High School when Hinkley is doing so well. My answer is simple. I want to be a part of Denver Public Schools and Montbello High School because this is where the future of education is headed. Denver Public Schools recognizes this. DPS supports what is happening at Montbello and the changes that are going to continue to happen. These changes will be decided by staff, administration, community, and parents. These changes will be guided by myself, driven by research, and supported by data, focused around what is best for students and preparing them for the opportunity to attend college. Many of these changes have already begun; implemented by Mr. Wilson and supported by stakeholders. I plan to carry on this vision by creating a college culture, fully implementing Small Learning Communities, creating early interventions for students to succeed, increasing technology in the classrooms supported with teacher training, and bringing in community resources to assist in this change to name a few. With the support of the district, staff, and community, together we will bring Montbello forward as a national model school for the 21st century.
