ABOUT ME
WHERE I COME FROM
My mother, who was from Southwest Virginia, moved our family to Abingdon in 1975 when I was in the 5th grade. I attended EB Stanley the first year it opened as an elementary school. I later attended Abingdon High School, where I was active in the Band and many other extra curricular activities. I graduated in 1982 and headed out to Georgia to go to college.
A THRIVING CAREER
I graduated from the University of Georgia in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army. I went on to serve 11 years in the Transportation Corps, including assignments in Germany, and with the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I served two combat tours and earned a Bronze Star for my service in the Gulf War/Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. I was a company commander of a line haul truck company during her second combat tour in Somalia, during Operation Restore Hope.
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I continued my education after leaving the service, earning a master’s degree in Elementary Education from Troy University in Alabama. I taught at many grade levels at both public and private schools here in Virginia and in Department of Defense Schools overseas. I have experience with school improvement planning, special needs and gifted education, and home schooling.