Supporting Animal Rescue Efforts
I was raised by parents who loved animals and taught their children to love and respect both wild and domestic critters. Growing up, my family's pets, who were adopted from animal shelters, were the most loving and loyal companions we could have had. My house became a home when, as an adult, I adopted companions who had been rescue animals. Currently, I share my home with litter mates, Kiah and Corky, a couple of poodle-dachshund mixes that fill my days with laughter and adventure. Herkimer, an adopted Sonoran desert tortoise, is another resident of my home. Herkimer and I go way back; he has been in my life for twenty-four years, and is a sweet little guy who, like Kiah and Corky, comes running when I whistle. I support the efforts of the Southern Arizona Humane Society, the organization that introduced me to my pups thirteen years ago!
Advocacy for Learning in and about the Environment
From the time I was a park ranger, I have been actively involved in Environmental Education efforts. Not only have I developed and implemented Environmental Education curriculum in my own classrooms, I have worked as a wildlife education docent with the Arizona Game and Fish Department and as an interpretive volunteer with Saguaro National Park in presenting workshops and in-services on Arizona Wildlife, Ecological Concepts, Project Wild, Aquatic Project Wild, and Project Learning Tree to teachers in Pima County. In addition, I have facilitated age-appropriate presentations and school assemblies for school children in the Tucson metropolitan area. Since the 1980s, I have been a lifetime member of the Arizona Association for Environmental Education (formerly, the Arizona Association for Learning in and About the Environment).
Creating Safe Zones and Presenting Safe Zone Training
I am strongly committed to LGBTQ rights and issues. I have been a Safe Zone trainer at the University of Arizona and a strong advocate for LGBTQ awareness and affirmation at Pima Community College. I support the efforts of the Southern Arizona Aids Foundation and Wingspan in Tucson, Arizona.
Advocacy for and Service to Students and Families with Special Education Needs
I have always loved my work as a special educator, and along the way discovered the great need for advocates who can help students with exceptional needs and their families to navigate their way through the often unfamiliar and daunting process of securing services and supporting their own development of self-advocacy knowledge, skills, and strategies. For nearly thirty years, I have offered my services pro bono to students, to their parents and guardians, to schools, and to school districts who needed support to ensure that the educational needs of students needing special education services were being met effectively and efficiently.
Service to the Dynamic Field of Public Education
For the past twelve years, I have worked with the Blue Adobe Project and its public charter high school as a member of the governing board of Sky Islands Public Charter High School. Founded in 2006, the Blue Adobe Project is dedicated to bringing ecological design to life and learning and is in the process of designing a bio-regional educational center that houses Sky Islands, its environmentally-focused public charter school. The high school provides educational environments that make patterns intelligible, develop an aesthetic ecology sensibility, and invest in environmental health.
I was raised by parents who loved animals and taught their children to love and respect both wild and domestic critters. Growing up, my family's pets, who were adopted from animal shelters, were the most loving and loyal companions we could have had. My house became a home when, as an adult, I adopted companions who had been rescue animals. Currently, I share my home with litter mates, Kiah and Corky, a couple of poodle-dachshund mixes that fill my days with laughter and adventure. Herkimer, an adopted Sonoran desert tortoise, is another resident of my home. Herkimer and I go way back; he has been in my life for twenty-four years, and is a sweet little guy who, like Kiah and Corky, comes running when I whistle. I support the efforts of the Southern Arizona Humane Society, the organization that introduced me to my pups thirteen years ago!
Advocacy for Learning in and about the Environment
From the time I was a park ranger, I have been actively involved in Environmental Education efforts. Not only have I developed and implemented Environmental Education curriculum in my own classrooms, I have worked as a wildlife education docent with the Arizona Game and Fish Department and as an interpretive volunteer with Saguaro National Park in presenting workshops and in-services on Arizona Wildlife, Ecological Concepts, Project Wild, Aquatic Project Wild, and Project Learning Tree to teachers in Pima County. In addition, I have facilitated age-appropriate presentations and school assemblies for school children in the Tucson metropolitan area. Since the 1980s, I have been a lifetime member of the Arizona Association for Environmental Education (formerly, the Arizona Association for Learning in and About the Environment).
Creating Safe Zones and Presenting Safe Zone Training
I am strongly committed to LGBTQ rights and issues. I have been a Safe Zone trainer at the University of Arizona and a strong advocate for LGBTQ awareness and affirmation at Pima Community College. I support the efforts of the Southern Arizona Aids Foundation and Wingspan in Tucson, Arizona.
Advocacy for and Service to Students and Families with Special Education Needs
I have always loved my work as a special educator, and along the way discovered the great need for advocates who can help students with exceptional needs and their families to navigate their way through the often unfamiliar and daunting process of securing services and supporting their own development of self-advocacy knowledge, skills, and strategies. For nearly thirty years, I have offered my services pro bono to students, to their parents and guardians, to schools, and to school districts who needed support to ensure that the educational needs of students needing special education services were being met effectively and efficiently.
Service to the Dynamic Field of Public Education
For the past twelve years, I have worked with the Blue Adobe Project and its public charter high school as a member of the governing board of Sky Islands Public Charter High School. Founded in 2006, the Blue Adobe Project is dedicated to bringing ecological design to life and learning and is in the process of designing a bio-regional educational center that houses Sky Islands, its environmentally-focused public charter school. The high school provides educational environments that make patterns intelligible, develop an aesthetic ecology sensibility, and invest in environmental health.
