My personal bio...
Hello and welcome to my site! This is the Elk Rapids High School AP Chemistry, Chemistry and Forensic Science classroom site. I am excited about the opportunity to teach at Elk Rapids this year. I look forward to working with you.
About me.....I graduated from Central Michigan University in December of 1996 receiving a Bachelors of Science degree with a major in chemistry and a minor in mathematics. My post college career began as a research chemist in Muskegon. I was employed by a chemical plant that manufactured a precursor for the pigment industry. The company I worked is the WORLD'S largest supplier of inks and dyes. Can you believe that the world is supplied with inks and dyes right here in Michigan! As your teacher, you will often hear me say, "Chemistry is all around you." I say this because chemistry is involved in everything we do....right down to printer inks. The research team I was part of was in charge of maintaining production controls, testing changes to improve production, and of course, testing the dye. Every batch of dye used in the production of ink is tested for multiple factors that lead to its quality. After a few years in Muskegon, I became a mother to my beautiful and talented daughter, Brenna. She impacted my life immensely. I suddenly had the desire to return home to northern Michigan to raise her. I wanted her to have a similar childhood as I had in Frankfort, MI. I was able to land a position in Traverse City at Southern Petroleum Laboratories. At SPL, we primarily worked for the petroleum industry testing substances for environmental contamination. Petroleum products like gasoline and diesel are stored liquid underground storage tanks or L.U.S.T. for short. These containment systems have to be monitored for soil and water contamination continuously to ensure that our need for petroleum provides minimal impact to our environment. Testing this of this type requires expensive training and expensive instrumentation. I had the pleasure of working with and mastering instruments like a mass spectrometer, a high performance liquid chromatograph, a gas chromatograph and many more. These instruments are by far some of the coolest known in the chemical industry! During this time, my second daughter Kaitlyn was welcomed into our family. I have raised both of my daughters to be great students and to be active in sports and extracurricular activities at their schools. I spent a tremendous amount of time coaching basketball, volleyball and softball. Because of this, I began to feel a desire to become more involved in the school systems and with education. I loved working with children so much that I decided to go back to school to obtain my teaching credentials. I have not regretted that decision since. I have been in education for nearly six years now. I have had the time of my life! I have met some amazing kids and am so excited to keep meeting more.
I am so excited to teach in Elk Rapids and share with you my love and passion for science. I believe that by creating a fun, hands-on learning environment focused on the fundamentals of chemistry, I will encourage you to have a passion for the sciences also.
About me.....I graduated from Central Michigan University in December of 1996 receiving a Bachelors of Science degree with a major in chemistry and a minor in mathematics. My post college career began as a research chemist in Muskegon. I was employed by a chemical plant that manufactured a precursor for the pigment industry. The company I worked is the WORLD'S largest supplier of inks and dyes. Can you believe that the world is supplied with inks and dyes right here in Michigan! As your teacher, you will often hear me say, "Chemistry is all around you." I say this because chemistry is involved in everything we do....right down to printer inks. The research team I was part of was in charge of maintaining production controls, testing changes to improve production, and of course, testing the dye. Every batch of dye used in the production of ink is tested for multiple factors that lead to its quality. After a few years in Muskegon, I became a mother to my beautiful and talented daughter, Brenna. She impacted my life immensely. I suddenly had the desire to return home to northern Michigan to raise her. I wanted her to have a similar childhood as I had in Frankfort, MI. I was able to land a position in Traverse City at Southern Petroleum Laboratories. At SPL, we primarily worked for the petroleum industry testing substances for environmental contamination. Petroleum products like gasoline and diesel are stored liquid underground storage tanks or L.U.S.T. for short. These containment systems have to be monitored for soil and water contamination continuously to ensure that our need for petroleum provides minimal impact to our environment. Testing this of this type requires expensive training and expensive instrumentation. I had the pleasure of working with and mastering instruments like a mass spectrometer, a high performance liquid chromatograph, a gas chromatograph and many more. These instruments are by far some of the coolest known in the chemical industry! During this time, my second daughter Kaitlyn was welcomed into our family. I have raised both of my daughters to be great students and to be active in sports and extracurricular activities at their schools. I spent a tremendous amount of time coaching basketball, volleyball and softball. Because of this, I began to feel a desire to become more involved in the school systems and with education. I loved working with children so much that I decided to go back to school to obtain my teaching credentials. I have not regretted that decision since. I have been in education for nearly six years now. I have had the time of my life! I have met some amazing kids and am so excited to keep meeting more.
I am so excited to teach in Elk Rapids and share with you my love and passion for science. I believe that by creating a fun, hands-on learning environment focused on the fundamentals of chemistry, I will encourage you to have a passion for the sciences also.