Biography

My career began more than 30 years ago in the special education field. I taught students with diverse needs, including students with behavior disorders, intellectual disabilities, multiple disabilities, and students in resource classes. 

As a special education teacher, I had the opportunity to participate in Project RESPECT several years ago: Regular Education, Special Education, and Cooperative Teaching. This model was ahead of its time and incorporated effective teaching and instructional strategies in co-teaching, content-integrated classroom settings. This provided me the opportunity to teach a variety of subjects, including math, English, science, social studies, and physical education. As a result, I have a working understanding of the content standards of many subject areas.

As an administrator, I have had a laser focus on increasing learning and extracurricular opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds. While an assistant principal at Wichita East High School, I was assigned to develop academic interventions for reading and math, in collaboration with our faculty. We also collaborated with Dr. Bonnie Grossen of the University of Oregon and Claudia McKnight of the National Institution of Direct Instruction. As a result of this collaboration and implementing a variety of effective teaching strategies, student performance increased significantly: more than 300% improvement in student reading and math performance was recorded over a 6-year period. I am passionate about identifying areas of growth and working collaboratively to support improved learning for all students.

During my time as the principal of Highland High School, I was fortunate to collaborate with an outstanding team of community members, teachers, staff, and students to incorporate important systemic changes to better meet the needs of all students. I embrace the importance of shared governance and collaborating with all stakeholders. Shared governance facilitates buy-in from all stakeholders, which ensures sustainable, lasting change for the school community. At Highland High School we had the opportunity to implement a variety of programs to better support student learning. The faculty incorporated authentic Professional Learning Communities, identifying essential outcomes, creating common formative assessments, and regularly discussing data to drive planning and instruction. The community incorporated interventions which resulted in dramatic increases in attendance, passing grades, graduation rates and positive climate surveys.

I understand the value of extracurricular activities in facilitating student engagement, academic success, and connection to the school community. I have been an Athletic Director and the Fine Arts Administrator at the high school level. I have also been the chairman of Region 6 of the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA), in addition to serving as a member of the Board of Director and Executive Committee of the UHSAA. I have coached football, wrestling, cross country, and track and field during my time as an educator. I have traveled with performing groups, judged debate competitions, and had cameos each year in the school musicals while a principal.

During the past eight years of my career, I have served in the Salt Lake City School District as the Executive Director of Auxiliary Services. In this position, I have supervised various departments, including child nutrition, purchasing, capital construction, transportation, and facilities services.

I have been fortunate to have a comprehensive career as an educator. As a result I hope to provide effective leadership to the Camp Williams Campus of UMA.