I started my career on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. I was a photographer/writer for the Council for Native American Growth, which published a paper on students and staff at the seven Native American schools located on Wind River. While I was attending college, I worked on a local radio station writing. I was able to attend college through a Theater scholarship. I then received my Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education with an English major and Speech and Theater minors.
My first teaching assignment after earning my teaching degree was at an International Boarding School, run by the Catholic Church located in rural North Dakota. My students were from all areas of the country as well as students from Mexico, Ghana, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, and many more. My students were widely varied in their economic backgrounds. I had students who lived in their own palatial homes located on a family compound and I had students who were at the poverty level and were at our school because their families wanted to protect them from the political violence raging in their home countries. I have been involved in education at all levels, from serving as a Pre-School director to teaching college level courses.
I have taught at inner-city schools with at-risk populations, and at rural schools that serve populations faced with high levels of poverty, homelessness, and critical levels of addictions. The majority of my students have faced barriers of poverty, violence, neglect and hardship. These barriers, faced by so many students, make teaching a challenging career path. But it is also one of the most rewarding professions, when you are able to connect with students and are able to play a small role in their academic and personal successes.
I worked as a director and an adult instruction specialist through a Family Literacy program that served Native populations specifically targeting adults who either wanted to complete their GED, or who needed supports as they worked towards earning college degrees. I came to work at a school on the Standing Rock Reservation as a reading instructor fourteen years ago. I was asked to serve as an Instructional Coach for Standing Rock, then asked to become an Assistant Principal. I am now the Principal at Standing Rock Community School. The guiding principle throughout my career has been to build relationships with students and families, and with the staff called to bring educational opportunities to the communities we serve. It has been an honor and a blessing to be involved in the academic paths of so many promising students, knowing that the impact we have on our students, shape the adults who will be shaping our world.
