I completed high school at Derry Area School District in 1995 and begin my undergraduate work at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. As an undergraduate I majored in secondary mathematics education and minored in educational psychology. I graduated from IUP in the spring of 1999 after student teaching at United Junior/Senior High School in Armagh, PA.

My first teaching job was at The Kiski School, a small private secondary boarding school in Saltsburg, PA. I taught Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II from the fall of 1999 to the spring of 2002. During that time I enrolled at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA to pursue a masters degree in education specializing in instructional technology and distance learning. I finished my degree in the summer of 2002 a month before obtaining my teaching position at Gateway School District in Monroeville, PA.

I began teaching 7th grade mathematics at Gateway Middle School in the fall of 2002. I taught math from 2002 to 2007 before becoming the instructional technology specialist of the building. I continued as the instructional technology specialist until 2012 before returning to the math classroom. I taught two more years as a 7th grade mathematics teacher and now I am teaching a course called Digital Fluency in the business education department. This course is designed to develop 21st century technology skills by using online media tools, apps, and software to enhance student learning.