I was born and raised in Saarbruecken Germany, a French-German border town which is situated at the heart of the Saar-Lor-Lux region in Germany. After High School, I graduated with an Associates Degree in Arts and Design. In 2002 my life brought me to Manhattan Kansas where I attended Upper Iowa University, graduating in 2004 with a BA in Human Resources Management and a Minor in Psychology.

While attending college I worked as a Homework and Computer Lab Teacher in a before and after school program. It was there that I had a group of very curious children who wanted to know more and more about the German Language and culture. I realized how much I enjoyed sharing my German heritage.

After graduating from college I relocated to Vancouver, Washington where I have been raising my three wonderful children as well as working as a Human Resources Generalist for a local shoe manufacturing company.

Living a busy American life style and being so far away from family and friends has made it challenging to carry on our German traditions and language at home. I felt very fortunate when a friend of mine told me about the German Saturday School in 2006 and shortly after my oldest daughter started attending. What a difference it has made for us at home to be able to share the new things learned at school and from attending cultural celebrations.

In 2008 I started co-teaching the Spielgruppe at the GSSOP and it has been an honor for me to be part of such a great school and community. Sharing my German culture and language with the youngest students of our school has been exciting. It has been a very rewarding experience to watch the little ones develop academically and socially and, perhaps most importantly, to see the next generation keeping the German culture alive.

In my free time I enjoy traveling with my children, cooking, baking, arts and crafts, gardening, house projects, photography and kite boarding.