I am from rural Iowa where I enjoy fishing, horseback riding, and archery. My mother homeschooled me starting in the 3rd grade and began teaching me Latin. At the time, I did not enjoy Latin. As I entered middle-school and was required to take online Latin classes, I merely tolerated them and tried to get good grades, but I did not attempt to learn the language. My passion for languages didn’t start until I took Spanish in high school. I enjoyed soaking in Spanish until I could think and even dream in it.

As I approached college, my bucket list item was to learn Greek and Hebrew, so I could read the Bible in its original language. To that end, I attended New Saint Andrew’s College (NSA), because I saw that they had a strong language program that pushed students to compose and speak in classical languages. In my freshman year, I was required to take a year of Latin, before I could move on to Greek and Hebrew. I was determined to excel in Latin, so I could easily get into the biblical language classes my sophomore year. As I poured my time into Latin, I began to love this language too and did something I never thought I would do. I took extra classes in Latin.

I did go on to complete my bucket list item of learning Greek and Hebrew, but I am always glad to spend extra time in Latin, pursuing an understanding of this accessible and historically important language. I am very excited to be joining the Kepler team to share with students my love and appreciation of Latin.

Teaching Philosophy

I firmly believe that the goal of education is to equip students with tools useful for understanding and living out God’s Word, so they can know and obey their Creator.

While there are a range of subjects useful to this end, including literature, geography, writing, and even math, I am especially excited to teach Latin to equip students with linguistic analysis tools that I hope students will apply to enriching their understanding of the words of Scripture.

I am passionate about helping students to understand Latin as a real language. I do not believe in the tedious methods of memorizing charts and English translations of vocabulary to turn the Latin into English. Modern language teachers do not use this method, so why should ancient language teachers? Instead, I want to help students to change themselves into understanders of Latin.

Statement of Faith

I am a Reformed Christian, who holds to the Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed, Definitions of Chalcedon, and the Westminster Standards.

I am a member of Ascension Reformed Church in Red Oak, IA.