Teaching
current educational opportunities and experience
Upcoming Classes
I will be offering creative writing/editing courses via The Champagne Room
on a rolling basis.
If you are interested in One-on-One writing and editing development, please click here.
Teaching Experience
January, 2023 - 2 hr Session
Generative Workshop
In January 2023, I again collaborated with Heather Bartel of The Champagne Room Journal to offer a generative workshop to a group of writers. We began with a short lightly-guided free write to get the literary juices moving, and then moved into two longer thirty minute generative exercises. The purpose of each exercise was not simply to generate writing, but remind the writer of tethers embedded deep within both their psyche and their work, and help them navigate a way into those spaces. We look forward to offering more generative sessions in the near future. Please consider subscribing to The Champagne Room's Newsletter to keep up to date with us.
November, 2022 - 1.5 hr Session
Generative Workshop
In November 2022, I collaborated with Heather Bartel of The Champagne Room Journal to offer a workshop to a group of writers to help them generate new work. We began with a short lightly-guided free write on a theme to get the literary juices moving, and then moved into two longer generative exercises. The purpose of each exercise was not simply to generate writing, but remind the writer of tethers embedded deep within both their psyche and their work, and help them navigate a way into those spaces.
April, 2021 - 2 hr Session
How To Edit & Be Edited
In April 2021, I collaborated with Alchemy Writers Workshop to teach a course that has become near and dear to my heart. My How To Edit & Be Edited course covered why editing is important, how to: 1) self edit one's work, 2) edit in a pair, and 3) group editing dynamics and best practices. I ran course participants through tips and tricks of editing, as well as dismantling old writing group procedures in favor of a more supported and empowered workshopping space. Lastly, the workshop participants worked in pairs to edit pieces they brought to the workshop, putting the tools they learned in class into practice. It was an immensely fruitful session and one that surely will be run with Alchemy again, so keep your eye on the Alchemy Writers Workshop page.
August 1 - September 13, 2018
Freedoms In Expression
Freedoms in Expressions was a course I taught on using alternative and/or hybrid writing to allow for freedom of expressions within a writer’s work. The course covered reviewing current/past writers who utilize the space of the page and non-traditional writing styles to give unique insight into their work, practicing with these different methods and developing new methods of creative writing expression, and learning how to edit one’s own and another’s work to generate a curated and final product. Each class would begin with a guided “free write” exercise, then the lecture component, and finally different exercises to help course participants experiment with the topics covered that day in class. At the completion of the course, I created a ‘zine’ with one piece of work from each participant for them to take home and cherish. Additionally, Innisfree Poetry Café and Bookstore, which sponsored the course, hosted a reading where all the course participants were able to have a public platform to read their works.
January, 2019 - 2 hr Session
How To Edit & Be Edited
In January 2019, I had the great opportunity to teach this editing course as part of Goddard College's MFA program. How To Edit & Be Edited covered the importance of editing as part of the writing process, the fundamental skills to edit one’s own writing, and the process of working either one-on-one or as part of a group to edit or receive edits on creative work, and thus generate a curated and final product. Hour one of this course was comprised of lecture covering the why and how of self-editing, tips for being a good editor for others, and the key components to receiving editing feedback. In hour two, the class completed two exercises. The first was a self-editing project, where students were asked to bring their own writing to edit based on the techniques learned in class. The second exercise was a group editing session, where students were given a piece of writing to read and evaluate, then edit, and finally provide feedback based on the lessons from the course. All of the students who attended reported positive feedback that the course taught them indispensable skills for moving forward in their lives as writers.
December 2013 - July 2015
Program Facilitator and Instructor
In this role, I taught every course available, including private lessons, within the Programs Department at a local climbing gym. These courses ranged from rock climbing basics to advanced technique and successful climbing strategy workshops. I planned and executed two successful sessions of a program called "Girls Rock," which was designed to educate young girls on the fun and unique experience of problem solving and facing fears through rock climbing, but also show girls how they can develop into strong and capable women. Coaching youth climbers is a wonderful way to teach children how to use climbing as a way to navigate challenging life situations, and remember to still have fun.
October 2008 - April 2012
Research Analyst and Trainer
In this role, I worked with a government contractor to assist federally funded grantees and service providers in comprehending and completing the annual Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Data Report (RDR) and Services Report (RSR). In addition to this I contributed ideas and materials to, as well as, edited the 2009-2012 Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program 
Services Report (RSR), RSR Instruction Manual, and Instruction Manual Supplement, as well as developed all training materials for RSR/RDR Trainings from 2008 – 2011. Due to my background with the materials and my skills as a public speaker, I was a trainer at the RSR/RDR conferences from 2008-2011.
My Educational Background
MFA in Creative Writing 2019
Goddard College - Plainfield, VT
Focus: Hybrid Writing, Memoir, and Poetry
2017 PEN North American-Goddard Scholarship Awardee
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BA in Sociology 2008
Binghamton University, State University of New York - Binghamton, NY
Harpur College Dean’s List: Spring 2008
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BA Coursework 2004 - 2007
Warren Wilson College - Asheville, NC
Focus: Creative Writing, Sociology, and Women’s Studies
September 2010 - October 2017
Rock Climbing Coach
I have worked as a Rock Climbing Coach in several climbing facilities over the last ten years teaching children ages 6-17. While working with small groups (group sizes ranging from three to twenty participants) teaching both competitive and "for fun" climbers, I helped them learn basic skills, development techniques, and advanced climbing strategies. This experience allowed me the space to always think outside the box when it comes to conveying information to a group.