The mini life story … I attended Mary Washington College (now the University of Mary Washington) where I earned a B.A. in comparative religious studies in 1995. For my senior thesis, I studied aspects of Native American spirituality (the paper, unedited from long ago: “The Role of Symbol in the Onikare”). This led to internships on the Navajo Nation (Diné Bikéyah) in the summers of ‘95 and ‘96, during which I worked with the Chinlé school district to help edit traditional tales for inclusion in the district’s bi-cultural curriculum development program. This work deeply affected my beliefs and goals, and I returned with a strong interest in social justice and education. I decided to become a teacher as a result and returned to Mary Washington to finish a B.A. in English. In 1998, I earned my teaching license for secondary English education.

Throughout high school and college, I was also writing and keeping myself involved in literary magazines, theater, and the arts, so when I was offered a position in September of 1998 to teach at a school that was in the early stages of becoming a fine and performing arts specialty school, I accepted. This allowed me to help with the development of the program in general and the creative writing strand in particular. As a result, I served as assistant coordinator and taught English and creative writing at Woodbridge Senior High School’s Center for the Fine and Performing Arts (CFPA) for nine years.

In the summer of 2000, I attended the Northern Virginia Writing Project (NVWP) Summer Institute. If I were permitted an extended metaphor, I would say that Chinlé sparked my passion for social justice and education, CFPA provided the fuel for the fire, and NVWP taught me how to sustain that fire and put it to good use. NVWP was, by far, the most powerful and helpful professional development program I encountered as a teacher. After that first summer, I joined the board and became more involved in the project’s work. I served as a staff member during the 2001 Summer Institute and started working with NVWP’s Young Writers Program, serving in the Student Summer Institutes and weekend workshops. In 2002, I became the project’s first Technology Liaison, somewhat by default, because of my interest in using online tools to help improve student writing and thinking, and I served in that role until 2008.

In 2003, I achieved certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in adolescence and young adulthood English language arts, and in 2006, I earned an M.A. in the Teaching of Writing and Literature from George Mason University. Afterwards, I went on to teach college-level courses in composition and teacher education through the Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University.

In the spring of 2007, I decided to leave the classroom–for a variety of reasons–but I continue to work with NVWP and follow developments in the world of education. Though my focus has shifted somewhat, and my attention has expanded to include political and environmental concerns, social justice is still the driving force behind my activism.

I also continue to develop my own writing, mainly fiction and scripts for comics and films, and have recently started working seriously toward the goal of publication. (We’ll see how that goes.) I’ve had a long-standing interest in genre studies, particularly horror and dark fantasy (see “Lovecraft Rising,” another essay, this one from my M.A. program, but also unedited since then). This interest includes exploring the connections between genre and folklore and mapping the potentials and limitations those genres present.

I’m currently living in Richmond, Virginia, and I’m employed as a trainer, curriculum developer, and online content manager for JBS International, Inc. as part of their Child and Family Services Reviews project. As often as I can, I also enjoy practicing photography, hiking, and scuba diving.