Programs
Leadership Development · 2024
Selected for a competitive cohort program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, focused on leadership development in education. The program brought together education leaders for intensive workshops, seminars, and dialogue on trends, challenges, and best practices in higher education leadership.
Curriculum Development
Working with SGLI to develop curriculum and training materials for center founders and directors across the global network — supporting the next generation of leaders building vocational training and arts education centers grounded in Bill Strickland's model.
Research
Contributing to a study of founder and center director profiles across the SGLI network — building knowledge about who leads these centers, what shapes their leadership, and what the network can learn from their collective experience.
Best Practices
Working with SGLI to develop best practices in artist residencies across the network — exploring how arts programming can be structured, sustained, and deepened within vocational training and community enrichment centers.
Educational Access
Exploring potential funding initiatives in partnership with SGLI aimed at expanding educational access and opportunity for the learners served by centers across the network.
Elected Service · 2017–Present
Serving as an elected school board member, with roles including Board President and current service as Educational Services Chair. Board work has included curriculum development, contract negotiations with collective bargaining units, school safety, community engagement, early childhood care initiatives, and a collaborative response to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Board Service · 2012–Present
Serving on the board of the Synergy Community Foundation since its founding in 2012, based in Sharon, Pennsylvania. The Foundation leverages state EITC funding to expand access to early childhood education and provide tuition assistance for families in financial need. To date the Foundation has granted over $1.2 million in scholarships across 15 school systems, impacting students and families throughout the Shenango Valley and Mercer County.
Design Training
Completed LUMA Human-Centered Design training and applied design thinking principles to improve educational outcomes with strategic partners in the Grove City Area School District region — with a particular focus on convening community organizations to work through complex educational challenges together.
Graduate Program
Developed in partnership with key faculty members — including the full curriculum, program architecture, and all coursework and syllabi. An asynchronous program grounded in the science of reading, designed for educators pursuing reading specialist certification or seeking deeper understanding of reading pedagogy and systems for supporting struggling readers.
Advising Model
A cohort-based advising framework supporting preservice teachers across all four years of their preparation program and into their first year in the classroom — building sustained mentoring relationships that extend well beyond graduation.
Career Services
Established a specialized office for career services focused exclusively on the short and long term career needs of education majors — creating dedicated support and resources for students navigating the teaching profession from their first year through placement and beyond.
Program Growth
Over more than two decades of departmental leadership, the Education Department grew from 12 distinct undergraduate majors to over 30 distinct academic programs — including undergraduate majors, post-baccalaureate and intern certifications, endorsement programs, graduate pathways, and the Reading Specialist Masters Program.