My car wouldn't start at the pier, the school had no power, and I faced twenty-five sixth graders in a dark classroom with no lesson plan. But sometimes restoration comes in unexpected ways – through jumper cables from someone who loves us, through teaching children to find peace in uncertainty, through learning that even in the dark, we can still find our own light.
Education & Advocacy
Free to Fall and Fail Again: Finding Your Song in the Chaos
Everything around me changes with the seasons—the sunrise comes later, the routines shift, the household dynamics evolve. But I show up every morning at the water's edge, and the God who orders all of this—the sunrises and the sea glass walks, the students in room 202, and the beautiful chaos of family life—remains constant.
The Last Day of Summer: Preparing to Teach with Mental Illness in the Open
Today was the last day of summer, and it didn't sneak up on me. Despite a packed day ahead, I positioned myself at Fort Monroe to welcome the dawn of my last official day of summer vacation. As I prepare to return to teaching, I'm carrying a different kind of fear: Since I've come out publicly about my mental illness, will there be pushback? I readily own my ADHD because I can model accommodations for my students. But will I ever feel safe admitting I have bipolar disorder? Sometimes the very things we're most afraid to reveal become the bridges that help others feel less alone.
What Teaching Troubled Kids Taught Me About My Own Story
For ten months, I chanted with my students: 'This is my life. This is my story. I will love it or regret it based on my daily choices.' It changed us all.
How Baking Caribbean Rum Cake Made Me a Better Writing Teacher
I threw out my lesson plans and let my AP students drive the learning. Here's what happened when I stopped teaching from fear and started teaching from confidence—just like baking without a box.
What Hurricane Florence Taught Me About Teaching and Heartbreak
As I prepared for a literal storm, I realized I was still weathering the figurative one called Charming. Here's what teaching idioms taught me about surviving both.
Starting Over at a New School: When Change Brings Fresh Perspective
After calling off my wedding and leaving my old school, I'm starting fresh at a new campus. Here's what I learned from a bright-eyed new teacher about approaching life with renewed enthusiasm.
How New Teacher Orientation Opened My Eyes to Who I Really Am
They handed us sunglasses as a symbol of our bright future, but the real vision came from seeing myself through my colleagues' eyes. Sometimes strangers become mirrors.
Breaking Free from Labels and Excuses: Learning to Fly at 35
My student Snow White taught me that growth means accepting criticism without making excuses. Here's how I'm learning to stop using labels as crutches and find the freedom to fly.
When Students Become Teachers: Finding Poetry in Chaos
Teaching poetry to unruly sophomores taught me something unexpected: sometimes the most authentic writing emerges from the messiest places. Here's what my students taught me about courage.
Writer's Growth 