My career in education started like most as a traditional 5th grade ELA teacher. After 4 years of teaching, I joined REAL School Gardens as an instructional coach where I helped pioneer the award-winning garden based curriculum and teacher training programs. During this time I was able to apply my Masters in Education (M.Ed) focus on integrating outdoor classrooms as hands-on teaching tools. After 1,000 + Model Lessons (PD) facilitated, 120 school gardens served, and 21 learning gardens built, I was called to the Mountain West and a position with Project Lead The Way (PLTW).