I was born and raised in Hastings, Nebraska, but I moved to Grand Island and attended GISH for my last two years of high school. I was a debater in High School and my dream was to be a corporate lawyer with International corporations. I attended Creighton University in Omaha and finished at UNL with my PreLaw degree in three years. It was then I realized that I didn’t want to be a lawyer at all. I took a year off and considered my options. At that time, my father decided to quit his job as a bricklayer and go back to school to become a teacher, and he talked me into doing the same. So I enrolled in the teaching program at UNK the same year my father became a first year teacher at Cedar Hollow. I student taught English and German at Northwest High school and took my first teaching position at Fairbury High School in Southeast Nebraska.
I taught English and German for three years in Fairbury, and then I applied for a Fulbright teacher exchange to Germany. This program was ideal, because I was able to keep my job in Fairbury and still have an opportunity to teach abroad. I taught English to German students at the Lichtenbergschule in Darmstadt, Germany. I returned to teach three more years in Fairbury, but when a full time German position opened up at Wilber-Clatonia, I applied for the job. The timing was perfect, as I moved to Wilber the same year my oldest daughter was born. I spent the next 25 years in the Czech Capital of the United States. There I continued studying and received my Masters in Education at Doane, and two more teaching certifications in Spanish and English as a Second Language. When my youngest daughter graduated from UNK and I turned 55, so I decided to retire and move to Japan to teach Spanish to Americans at an Airforce base in Northern Japan. My intention all along was to spend one to two years in Japan and then return to finish my career in Nebraska. I returned from Japan in 2017 and accepted a Spanish position here at Northwest. After two years, Northwest decided to add German, so now I am doing what I love best....teaching both English and German every day.
I have two daughters. Echo lives in Wilber Nebraska, and was married in Oregon on the Gold Coast. She has a beautiful little girl, my only granddaughter, Callie. Callie was a special gift, as she was born on my birthday and is my only grandchild. Sky is my youngest daughter. She is a 1st grade teacher in Aurora, Nebraska. I love spending time with my family, cooking, watching movies and traveling. I have had great opportunities to travel over the years and have visited England, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Canada, Japan, Korea, and India. Most of my travels have been in Central Europe, but I enjoy exploring new places and meeting new people from all over the world.
I have a passion for languages, I honestly feel I have the best job in the world. Of course, I love my summers and the opportunity to travel, but Nebraska will always be home to me.
I taught English and German for three years in Fairbury, and then I applied for a Fulbright teacher exchange to Germany. This program was ideal, because I was able to keep my job in Fairbury and still have an opportunity to teach abroad. I taught English to German students at the Lichtenbergschule in Darmstadt, Germany. I returned to teach three more years in Fairbury, but when a full time German position opened up at Wilber-Clatonia, I applied for the job. The timing was perfect, as I moved to Wilber the same year my oldest daughter was born. I spent the next 25 years in the Czech Capital of the United States. There I continued studying and received my Masters in Education at Doane, and two more teaching certifications in Spanish and English as a Second Language. When my youngest daughter graduated from UNK and I turned 55, so I decided to retire and move to Japan to teach Spanish to Americans at an Airforce base in Northern Japan. My intention all along was to spend one to two years in Japan and then return to finish my career in Nebraska. I returned from Japan in 2017 and accepted a Spanish position here at Northwest. After two years, Northwest decided to add German, so now I am doing what I love best....teaching both English and German every day.
I have two daughters. Echo lives in Wilber Nebraska, and was married in Oregon on the Gold Coast. She has a beautiful little girl, my only granddaughter, Callie. Callie was a special gift, as she was born on my birthday and is my only grandchild. Sky is my youngest daughter. She is a 1st grade teacher in Aurora, Nebraska. I love spending time with my family, cooking, watching movies and traveling. I have had great opportunities to travel over the years and have visited England, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Canada, Japan, Korea, and India. Most of my travels have been in Central Europe, but I enjoy exploring new places and meeting new people from all over the world.
I have a passion for languages, I honestly feel I have the best job in the world. Of course, I love my summers and the opportunity to travel, but Nebraska will always be home to me.