What is your current title and organization? Describe what you do.

Currently I am a Special Education Resource teacher at St. Joseph Catholic School. I will be taking over the Special Education Coordinator position next year. I serve students in grades K-4 with a variety of needs. I am also Reading Specialist, many of my students I serve have Dyslexia and other learning challenges.

What is it you love about your work?

I am very passionate about all students receiving what they need in order for them to be successful in school. There really is nothing like the feeling of helping a student discover what their strengths are, and then empowering them to learn through those strengths!

What hobbies or other activities do you most enjoy?

I love spending time with my family and pets. I am an animal lover and have had numerous kinds of pets in my classroom and at home. Currently we have 2 dogs and 3 ferrets. One of the ferrets is my class pet who LOVES to hear my students read and he also loves to do movement breaks with students as they take him for walks around our building.

What memories stand out to you about your time at Pius X (classes, activities, teachers, etc.)?

I was in Band at Pius, and Mr. Rush was a huge mentor for me. He always had time to talk and encourage me. He encouraged me to audition for the UNL Cornhusker Marching Band. Those years were a blessing to me as it helped me grow in confidence to pursue my other dreams.

How does your experience at Pius X impact you today?

There have definitely been times in my life that my faith has been challenged. I think hearing those voices in my head from past teachers at Pius who encouraged us always to “turn to God”, “Trust in His plans”, and “spend time with Him in the chapel”…. At the time I didn’t realize how powerful those voices would be in my life. I am grateful for the experiences. In recent years I have been blessed to reconnect with friends and acquaintances from my class. It has been a true blessing realizing that no matter what journeys God sent us on, we all had that one thing in common. We all had “that voice” in our heads reminding us what was truly important.

Share a little about your family.

I have been married to my husband Paul for 35 years in June. We are blessed with 4 children. 3 live in Lincoln and 1 in Kansas City. We love spending time together playing games, watching NE sporting events and all of us share a love for our pets 😊.