Staff Directory

I have a passion for agriculture and for teaching the next generation about our food system, animal care and the resources we depend on to live our daily lives. Growing up in agriculture, this pathway was a natural choice for me.  Agriculture is so diverse and necessary, I truly enjoy training tomorrow’s leaders for an industry that employs over 21 million people in the US. Teaching at CTECH is such a unique opportunity because we are preparing students to enter rapidly growing fields of employment.  One of my favorite things about teaching at CTECH are the students, they have a strong interest and excitement about gaining specific skills to further their path to employment. CTECH courses are extremely hands on while still being rigorous, students are learning industry-specific skills that allow them to easily transition into either the workforce or further education.

The thing I love most about teaching Computer Science and Information Technology are the moments when someone who thinks they are "not techy" finds something that really excites them and has the opportunity to run with it. All of the CS/IT classes are project-based so that every student can learn at their own pace and also push themselves to new levels. This is also why I love teaching at CTECH. Instead of learning by rote and memorization, students are taught how to use professional tools to pursue their own learning. CTECH gives the students the opportunity to really take ownership of their learning and the result is a much deeper understanding of both the academic curriculum as well as all the surrounding skills that will make them successful in the future.

I enjoy teaching the Construction Trades pathway because the practical experience students engage in, the building codes we discuss and learn, and the guest educators we host are all directly related to the construction industry and beneficial for future employment. One of the most enjoyable benefits of teaching at CTECH is the level of student maturity.  It seems as though when high school students attend classes at CTECH they conduct themselves more like post-secondary students. This improves both the quality of teaching and learning.

I truly enjoy watching students in the Project Lead the Way Engineering classes wrestle with real world problems and I love seeing the creative solutions they generate. The imagination and high level thinking that students employ in engineering is amazing. I love the fact that CTECH brings students together from all over and around Rochester.

CTECH is a unique learning environment where students get to choose their own adventure—whether it’s nursing, welding, engineering, cooking, or, in my case, TEACHING. In the Teaching pathway, you will spend three days a week in a real, live classroom of your choosing—where you get to connect with kids in a meaningful way and possibly even change the lives of those you work with. If hands-on, active learning speaks to you, then this is where you belong... PLUS, upon successful completion of the course, you earn two credits from the University of Minnesota. The Teaching pathway could possibly be the best experience you have in high school. That’s why I love it!