I am a native Louisvillian, but I also lived in Lexington for three years during elementary school and in California for nine years. My California time included college at Stanford University, where I majored in Psychology with a Health and Development focus and had the privilege of working one summer at Bing Nursery School, Stanford’s research preschool. After working a few years in the college and music ministries at a church, I completed a Masters in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University. After graduation, I moved back to Louisville in 1998 to be near family and to take a job at Kentucky Country Day School as a middle school math teacher and student development counselor.
In 2007, my daughter started in the Older Toddler room at HiHo and I started teaching music. Music has always been a passion for me: piano, guitar, and voice lessons; choirs at school and church; musical theater; singing with an a cappella group in college; leading worship at a church. Being on staff at HiHo has given me a chance to share that passion with children and their families. I love the wonder with which children approach songs and instruments, the pure freedom and joy they express when moving with scarves or banging on floor drums. Sharing in their silliness through music expression sure helps to keep me young!
Some children come to school ready to explore and dive in. Others feel more apprehensive, needing to sit back and observe to figure things out before jumping into exploring and playing. I strongly believe that we need to meet children where they are and provide a safe environment for them to learn in a way that suits their needs. So many times, the parent of a child who never makes a peep during music and hesitates to hold an instrument will tell me that, at home, that same child sings every word of every song and lines up their stuffed animals to lead a music class. As children grow more comfortable and start making suggestions for songs or movements, I love incorporating their ideas. They learn that they are valued and that their contributions are meaningful; hopefully this leads to confidence in expressing ideas as they move forward in life.
At home, I enjoy spending time with my husband, Dan, who is also a teacher and musician; daughter, Caroline, a first year college student majoring in studio art and minoring in musical theater; and our 80 pound Great Pyrenees mix, Trooper, who thinks he’s a Chihuahua. When I’m not at HiHo or with my family, you can usually find me at the horse barn with Xandra, a beautiful Friesian mare I have the privilege of riding.