Currently I teach K-5 Theatre Arts in a public elementary school located in Austin, Texas. We are expecting an enrollment of 750 students in the 2011-2012 calendar year. Though located in Austin, it is actually part of Leander Independent School District (LISD) which is located Northwest of Austin.
My school website.
River Place Elementary Website
Leander Independent School District Website
I was born in Flint, Michigan and lived most of my childhood in small towns in that state. My mother, a sister (both in Holland), and a brother (Port Huron) still live there. A second sister lives in Florida. My son, Karsten, works for Dell in Round Rock, Texas.
I attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, the University of Washington in Seattle (B.A., Phi Beta Kappa), The International People's College in Elsinore, Denmark, and Seattle Pacific (grad. credits in Japan Studies).
When I graduated from college, I moved to Tokyo, Japan for two years to teach English in a private school primarily privately or to small groups of adults. I later did this in London. After that I taught a year in a primary school there.
I've taught Elementary Theatre in LISD and RRISD. Before that, I taught Special Education classes in several school districts in the Austin area. I've also taught basic math and reading in a prison. For nine years I scored elementary and middle school essays for the state of Texas and have scored college entrance and exit essays for several states.
I used to be very active in community theatre and acted in over 30 productions in the Austin area. One role was Juliet's nurse in Austin's Shakespeare in the Park. My tapestry and fur period costumes for "The Merchant of Venice" received an Austin Circle of Theatres (ACoT) nomination.
In 2007 I was the proud recipient of the President's Volunteer Service Bronze Star Award.
In Texas I'm certified to teach Theatre Arts, General Elementary, and Generic Special Education ages birth to 22.
In Washington I'm certified to teach Theatre Arts, Elementary, Early Childhood, and Special Education.
In England I'm certified to teach Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary, and Special Education.
In 2006 I was named the K-8 Texas Educational Theatre Association (TETA website) Teacher of the Year. Until this past January, I was the Elementary Chair of the TETA K-12 board.
Grants I've received include: one to teach kamishibai, a Japanese form of story-telling from donorschoose.com; one to Austin Musical Theatre Academy; and two ABC grants from the Junior League of Austin. One was to teach habitats in second grade science using realistic animal puppets. The other was to enhance fourth grade writing and acting of fractured fairy tales with costumes and props.
I was awarded a Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Grant to study in Japan for three weeks in October 2008. I stayed in Tokyo and in Iida in the mountains.
The summer of 2009 I was awarded an NEH grant on "Enacting Shakespeare." We were in Delaware for three weeks and then in Stratford-upon-Avon for two weeks studying Shakespeare with 14 other teachers from across the US. We saw six of Shakespeare's plays in England. Top experts in the world led our session. NEH Enacting Shakespeare 2009
All students do Shakespeare lessons. Younger students make Shakespeare Valentines and other greeting cards. Kindergarteners memorize and enact a short speech about wanting to be the lion from "A Midsummer Night's Dream." First, second, and third grades students make puppets with names of Shakespeare characters and use quotes from his plays in their puppet shows. Fourth grade students do scenes from his plays using shadow puppets after recording theie scenes using GarageBand. Fifth grade students enact out scenes from his plays, using the original language.
As a result from this grant, my students will be enacting Himalayan folktales and Jataka tales. They also will be making masks and creating puppets and appropriate props and sets for their shows.
