About Me/The Why's
Please introduce yourself, tell us about your background, education, and what interested you in applying for this position.
- Child of working-class immigrant family.
- Resident of NWA since the mid-90's.
- Alumnus of Rogers Public Schools, NWACC, U of A, and JBU as of 05/09/2026.
- I had the great opportunity to serve as a long-term substitute Social Studies teacher at Helen Tyson Middle School this semester. I’m a big fan of Social Studies – History, Psychology, Sociology. It was an excellent opportunity to complete the internship requirements of my degree this year. I’m looking forward to serving as a teacher in the upcoming school year and beyond.
How will you support language learners and students of poverty?
- Supporting Spanish speakers – I speak Spanish and can provide clarity to these students in Spanish. And I challenge them to approach the text in English with different scaffolds as needed – such as Google’s “Read & Write.”
- Supporting students of poverty: Consistency and trustworthiness. Trust is earned on a daily basis, in the small moments. Students are not going to share their personal challenges with you if they don’t trust you. Be someone they can trust and confide in.
What are some considerations in your classroom culture?
I am highly thoughtful and considerate of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Specifically, feeling safe and belonging. I want my students to not be afraid to try and fail. But that will not happen if they do not feel that they are cognitively and emotionally safe in my class. I do not tolerate bad language towards each other or ourselves. We are all still learning and growing. You cannot have innovation without mistakes.
What is your ideal planning process? Who would you involve in that process?
Quiet time in front of the computer, teaching resources, and inclusion of walks. I would typically plan my lessons on Sunday to ensure I was ready for class the upcoming week. Depending on what may have been discussed with other Social Studies teachers before the weekend then I would be sure to include those plans too.
What is a general area of opportunity for you?
Understanding what the exact standards are for 8th and 9th grade social studies. I know where I can find the general standards online. However, I know from my time at HTMS that district-wide standards are still in development for social studies. I'm curious what the essential standards are for Social Studies that have been identified by the GJHS Social Studies department.
What is your “Why?” (why do you do what you do?)
In mid-2020, I was restructured out of my role as the Operations Manager for Walmart’s corporate gift card team. I took the time to decompress from the role and focus on my next steps. I had always thought about serving as a teacher. I had the opportunity to serve as a substitute teacher in the classroom for my former Journalism teacher, Mrs. Diana Kolman (who was at my graduation this last Saturday). I served as a sub for her previous classroom, and that same day I applied for the MAT with JBU. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pay for the degree, but I trusted in the Lord. One month before I started my degree, I received an offer from MoneyGram to serve as a remote AML investigator. I continued working in remote AML/Sanctions roles since 2022 in order to pay for school without any student loans. I’ve been chipping away at this degree since 2022 and just graduated last week. This semester, I had the opportunity to serve as a long-term sub for Mrs. Stubbs at HTMS. It was a fantastic opportunity to put what I’ve learned into practice. I have ways to go in improving as an educator, but I’m excited for the journey of growth ahead. And I’m excited to be able to pay-it-forward to the next generation of amazing American leaders.
I’m a product of teachers who believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself, I can never pay them back, but I can pay it forward.
How would you involve reluctant learners?
Encouragement & support.
- “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” There could be a plethora of reasons as to why students may be reluctant learners. Is it a language barrier? Is it a mental or emotional barrier? Do they think they cannot do the task, so then they don’t even try? Ideally, an empathetic teacher will work to understand the student’s reluctancy, and provide them with the appropriate scaffolds they may need in order to engage with the material successfully.
Describe your classroom management philosophy.
Partnership/collaboration and re-focusing are my main strategies.
Describe a time when you had a conflict with a co-worker. How did you resolve it?
Direct conversation(s) with that individual. If I had a conflict with a co-worker or a co-worker had a conflict with me, ideally there is enough trust in the relationship, that we can discuss and resolve conflicts directly.
To be clear, I do not participate in gossip or negative conversations about others behind their backs. If I have a conflict with someone then I’ll address my grievance with that person directly.
How do you involve parents in their child’s education? Give an example.
- I did have the opportunity to visit with parents during parent-teacher conferences. And overall, that was a positive experience. Parents seemed to be engaged in their child’s learning and wanting to better understand how they could improve.
- Going forward, I do plan to send emails to parents so they understand where we are in our units and learning goals. Additionally, I want to be more proactive about sending positive notes to students’ guardians. I do not want my first contact with a guardian to be about a behavioral issue.
Finale - Why You?
The passion burns like a flame. The Calling is undeniable.
"If you can't fly, then run; if you can't run, then walk; if you can't walk, then crawl; but by all means, keep moving." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I have been grinding for four years. The sense of calling has been deep, and I know I did not make this journey alone. I'm here to serve others well, and inspire students with a lifelong passion of learning.
What is a typical lesson in your class (e.g. classroom organization, student engagement, instructional strategies/style, assessment(s).
1. Bell-ringer:
- Usually one of the following – vocabulary we are learning; refresh on the lesson from the previous day; or a culture-building item – “E.g. should we be able to break personal property (such as pencils) in the classroom? Why or why not?”
2. Brief introduction for the day’s class – goal of today. Then hopping into material.
- A short clip on a topic to get visual learners engaged.
- A small presentation of information that I want to ensure they know. Students will capture the notes that I present them. Research shows that students retain information better if they take their own notes instead of passively observing information on the board.
3. Activity
Blooket over the information they just learned about. They can use their notes while doing the activity. It can give their notes more purpose.
4. Reading
- Partnered reading over content we are currently learning about. We are all literacy teachers, and we need to provide students with as much time as possible to work on their literacy, vocabulary, and language skills.
5. Formative assessment
- If time allows, provide students with an exit ticket and have them share one new thing they learned about today. If time isn't available, then save the exit ticket as the next day's bell-ringer activity.
Tell us a time when you had to deal with a challenging student. How did you resolve the situation?
Praise publicly, criticize privately” – Vince Lombardi. Generally, my approach is to have a private conversation with the student in the hallway and understand what is going on. My goal is to re-direct them to the task, so we can meet the day’s goal. I also do not want to shame or humiliate them in front of their peers. The research is clear that teachers should never do that.
Describe your knowledge and/or experience with the PLC process.
- I would meet every Wednesday with Mr. Bisbee and Mr. Holland to discuss upcoming plans for the following week. During our PLC time, we would align on plans and pacing, CFA schedule, or share resources with each other.
- If my ELA colleague, Mr. Haden, had asked for special support with certain writing assignments then I would collaborate with him. For example, the 7th grade ELA teachers noticed that the students didn’t do as well on the interim Atlas test for argumentative writing. Therefore, the 7th grade ELA teachers asked the 7th grade social studies teachers to support students in developing this skillset. I met with Mr. Haden to understand what types of scaffolds he provides to his 7th grade ELA class, so I could provide similar ones to my class. My goal was for the students to have as minimal learning curve as possible in handling the graphic organizer. My goal was to support their writing work as much as possible.
Describe how you differentiate instruction.
My preferred strategy that I’ve seen in practice is a choice-board. Give students the options on how they would like to interact with the material. Perhaps visual learners would like to view a video on content and provide their thoughts on the video? How could the delivery of the information be improved? What thoughts did the video generate for them? What questions do they have after watching the video? Perhaps, kinetic/tactile learners would like to dramatize a scene from an excerpt of some reading that we did? Generally, provide students with different options on the information and how they would like to show what they learned from the material.