Having been born in and lived in several small (population of 1500 was really big to me) towns throughout Southern Utah, I finally settled in St. George at the ripe young age of 9. I attended my early school years at the Old College and the Woodward School buildings, which was great because they were across the street from Judd’s Candy Store, then the old Dixie High School. Dixie was a great place to grow up. We spent way too much time running around the early Dixie College campus as kids, usually getting chased off.
I fell in love with Chemistry at Dixie High School at the feet of an excellent teacher who still lives here. Then more Chemistry at the then Dixie College, a B.S. degree in Physical Science Composite Teaching from Southern Utah State College in ’85, and have been teaching Chemistry and Physics at my old Alma Mater, Dixie High for 30+ years now. Along the way I earned an M.Ed. in Secondary Education from Utah State University and finally began teaching Chemistry labs here at Utah Tech in 2002. I created the new SCI 2600 course here, “Lab Safety for Teachers”, and have taught it ever since. With that background I began training local science teachers, certifying them in lab safety, and ultimately took the training on the road to school districts throughout Utah.
Recently I was able to expand my role here at UT as the Physical Science Department Academic Advisor, while still teaching at Dixie High School. I love my work here at the University, both in the labs, the classrooms, and as an advisor. It is a thrill to help students prepare for the next level.