About Me

Seven decades and counting, I’m living a full and varied life—one shaped by music and athletics, teaching and family, love gained and lost, and an enduring need to create and share what I know. In recent years, my life has also been shaped by living with dystonia and Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), experiences that have deepened my understanding of resilience, adaptation, and what it means to keep showing up with intention. I see myself as a deliciously messy human being, doing my best to live a little better, be a little kinder, and offer what I can. Above all else, I am a mother of two children—one living and one held forever in my heart—and that love has given my life its deepest meaning.

  • National Award-Winning Children’s Recording Artist

    Album: The Toy Box

    - Winner of the National Parents’ Choice Approval Award, 1996.

    - Regional Emmy Nominee, 1998.

    - Best Newcomer Award, 1996.

    Song: The Elephant Dance

    - Semi-finalist in the International Songwriters Competition, 2015 - 2017.

    Performance | Recording | Production Highlights.

    - Produced | Recorded | Music and Lyrics | Fairytale Town 23 Story Boxes, Sacramento, CA.

    -” We’re Gonna Be Okay” |Music | Lyrics | Performed | Regional Emmy Nominee

    -Bear Valley Music Festival – Orchestral Performance “The Toy Box” – Bear Valley, CA

    - Produced | Performed "How To Read Aloud," early childhood literacy & language development, High 5 For Quality, First 5 El Dorado County, 2010.

    - Produced “How to Puppetry” and additional Video Spots – California State Library | Early Learning with Family Initiative

    -Sacramento Men’s Choirs-T’was the Night Before Christmas- Narrator

    -Davis Youth Symphony – Peter and The Wolf – Narrator

    -Sacramento Children’s Orchestra –Performance – The Toy Box (Original Music)

    -Dallas, Texas Kid Around Festival

    -California State Fair

    -California State Capitol “Read Around the Capitol”

    -Fair and Festival Stages No. Calif.

    -Starlight Starbright Foundation (No. California Hospital Visits)

    100’s of libraries, commercial bookstores, school assemblies, and special events.

    Produced a theatre production of “The Toy Box”.

  • Keynote Speaker and Workshop Presenter

    - 2024 Conference | Sacramento County Office of Education – Presenter – Sacramento, CA.

    - 2023 Women’s History Month – Consumnes Rivers Community College – Sacramento, CA

    - 2021 | 2020 Sacramento Central Library Play Summit – Presenter, Sacramento, CA.

    - Sacramento City Public Library – Holiday Concert Specials, Sacramento, CA

    - 2019 Placer County Office of Education - Keynote, Early Quality Matters, Auburn, CA

    - 2015 State Conference - Presenter, California Association for the Education of Young Children – Sacramento, CA.

    - 2014 | 2008 Ft. Hays University Young Authors’ Conference- Keynote Presenter, Ft. Hays, KS

    - 2014 Marion, Kansas Early Childhood Workshop, Marion, Kansas

    - 2013 Kansas Association for the Education of Young Children State Conference Keynote, Manhattan, Ks 2013

    - 2011 – 2013 Giving Voice to Children’s Literature | Sacramento, CA

    - 2008 Kansas State Reading Association State Conference –

    - Keynote Speaker | Workshop Presenter, Junction City, KS

    - 2007 – 2009 California State University, Sacramento Arts Resource Faire –Sacramento, CA,

    - Giving Voice to Children’s Literature - For teachers, students, and school administrators

    ADDITIONAL WORKSHOP CONFERENCES

    - National Even Start Conference - San Diego, CA

    - Head Start Northern California Conference

    - Northern California Association for Young Children: 6 Years Presenting

    - California Department of Education

    - PACE

    - Child Action Inc.

    - Various teacher workshops over the past 15 years

  • HONORS

    - 2014 Golden Key International Honor Society Honorary Member  - CSUS

    - 2012 Arts Educator of the Year, Sacramento Arts & Business Council, Sacramento, CA

    - 2012 Nominee, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, City of Sacramento, CA

    - 2010 Finalist: Arts Educator of the Year, Sacramento Arts & Business Council, CA

    - 2011 Community Service Award: UC Davis Children’s Hospital, Children’s      Miracle Network, Sacramento, CA

    - 2000 Community Gem Award: Blue Diamond Growers, Sacramento, CA.

    - 2000 Spirit of California Award: KXTV Channel 10 - ABC News Affiliate, Sacramento, CA

    - 1998 Regional Emmy Nominee, Northern California - Sacramento, CA

    - 1996 National Parents’ Choice Approval Award

    - 1996 Best Newcomers Award,

    - 2015 & 2017 Semi-finalist International Songwriters Competition

  • -Master of Arts Education M.A. Behavioral Science Gender Equity, Fall 2022

    - Bachelor of Arts in Psychology | San Francisco State University, 1986

    Adjunct Faculty 2004 – Present
    California State University, Sacramento - Sacramento, CA

    -EDUC 120 Literature for Children

    -EDUC 10 Critical Thinking

    -EDUC 121 Multicultural Children’s Literature

    -EDUC 21 First Year Experience 

    Ongoing: education

    -CTL | CSU Chancellors | Equity Minded Pedagogy Sp 2025

    -CTL: Adaptive Teaching for Equity - Completed 03/11/2022

    -CTL: Innovators Institute Hyflex Herky Flex & More - Completed 12/2021

    -National Council Behavioral Health: Certificate of Completion - 01/16/2021

    -ACUE: Active Learning Online Certificate - 12/10/2021

    -ACUE: Advance Credential in Effective College Instruction - 2020

    -CSUS Faculty Learning Center: Equity and Student Success - 2016-2017

    -CSUS Certificate of Completion - March 2015

    -CTL Summer Teaching Institute – 2014

    -CSUS E-Academy: Online Course Development Program - 2015

    -Los Rios Community College District Sacramento, CA - Freshman Seminar

    - Central Valley Holocaust Educational Network (CVHEN) Course Design | Videography - Sacramento, CA.  2023        

    California State Library | Early Learning with Families Initiative | Consulting | Media Development | Producer | Special Project- Sacramento, CA. 2013 - 2018