My Bio
Born and raised in South Georgia, I moved to Athens in 2002 to attend the University of Georgia (A.B.J. ‘05, B.A. ‘09, M.A. ‘11). As many people before me, I fell in love with this town and have made it my home. I'm an avid traveler and enjoy immersing myself in other cultures as well as learning languages in an effort to broaden my perspectives. Before entering into the real estate profession, I worked in the food and beverage industry for fourteen years followed by four years as a Spanish teacher at Cedar Shoals High School. These life experiences have proven invaluable, honing my ability to communicate honestly and respectfully with everyone whom I encounter.
As an actively engaged member of the Athens community I currently serve as a Books for Keeps Literacy Mentor (2023-present) at Stroud Elementary School and own/operate the local nonprofit dance organization TIMBAthens. In the past I taught at Cedar Shoals High School (2012-2016), served as a member of their Local School Governance Team (2022-2024), and also served on the Athens-Clarke County Historic Preservation Commission (2018-2024).
These experiences have reinforced my belief in developing a culture of service with respect to the communities where I live and work. As such, I have decided to run for the District 5 seat on the Clarke County Board of Education.
Check out my linktree for information on events and volunteering or make a donation here!
My Key Issues
Support Literacy
As an educator and mentor I understand the importance of reading for all people. The amount of information that we encounter every day is overwhelming, which makes the ability to properly analyze and vet the substance of it even more critical. When young people do not have a good foundation in phonics and reading comprehension, then they are not being set up for success in the future. Since 2022 Books for Keeps and CCSD have participated in the Get Comfortable: Storytellers Program that has trained and organized cohorts of literacy mentors to work with students in our elementary schools. The results have been impressive with a 337% increase in on-level reading achievement at the treatment schools in 2024-2025 when compared to the control groups. As a current mentor, I will continue to volunteer my time with this program and look for ways that we can expand and improve upon it within our district.
Encourage Trade Skills
Over the past 30 years the value of trade skills have been overshadowed by a focus on university track curriculum. Slowly but surely CCSD has been readjusting to expose students to these skills by way of CTAE pathways and, based on responses to the 2025 Senior Exit Survey, 35% of graduating seniors planned to either attend a technical college or immediately enter the job force. As one of the founding members of the Career Ready Program at Cedar Shoals High School, I will continue to advocate for our local business owners and skilled tradespeople to become involved with our students. The program currently runs a Career Speaker Series for 9th and 10th Graders during Advisement in the Fall semester, followed by a Career Mentoring Program for 10th and 11th Graders in the Spring. Currently there are 25 students signed up for this semester!
Common Sense Technology Use
Technology is both a blessing and a curse. We want our young people to have the skills to navigate the increasingly digital world, but having a direct connection to social media in their hands all day, every day, is not the answer. Studies have shown that children and teens who spend a lot of their time on social media have a reduced ability to pay attention and higher rates of anxiety and depression. We live in a world where there is the expectation of "instant gratification" for everything, including communication with ones children however, that should not mean that we sacrifice both their childhood and their education. I will work with the district to allocate funds that can be used to purchase Yondr pouches for all middle and high school students and reach out to administrators at Midtown and Marietta High Schools to get insight on their implementation of the policy. Additionally, I would seek to pull back on CCSD's 1-to-1 technology policy for all students in the 8th grade or younger. We also need to create a technology 101 course to teach basic typing and office suite skills that our students are lacking. The human brain does not retain information read from a screen to the same extent as it does when reading from a physical text and this is one of the reasons our students are falling behind. They are not retaining the information. Using a computer all day is detrimental to young people's cognitive development and capacity for learning.
Send Me a Message
Have questions or suggestions? I would love to hear from you!