Julia's Home Page

For the past seven years, I have served here as high school Humanities teacher, an advisor, and the unofficial library guru. I began teaching in Athens, Ohio 17 years ago when I was a graduate student working toward a master's in literature.  I quickly discovered my love for teaching, and armed with my degree, moved to Boston, where I taught writing courses to women returning to school, ESL to Russian elderly folks, fiction and writing to art students--as well as reading to my own daughter, who was born in 1993.  After my stint as an adjunct in the greater Boston area, I returned to school to become certified to teach high school.  At Tufts University (and Cambridge Rindge and Latin, where I was a student teacher), I became excited to learn that all kinds of creativity was required to reach high school students.  My first full-time postition at a traditional public high school helped me hone my patience and my classroom management skills.  When I took a break to take care of my son (born in 2001), I heard a rumor about a school that celebrated its first day in a hay field.  Before I knew it, I was visiting Compass, and then moving in my teaching files.  Here, I enjoy teaching literature such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Othello, but really love the projects where students can plan an event, sharing all their knowledge--whether a living museum of the 1940's, a film festival, or an exhibit of photography for social change.  I strive to create a lively, productive classroom where students take control of their own learning, continue to find out who they are, while also enjoying books, history, and the arts.

When I'm not teaching, I can be found hanging with my two children, reading, watching good movies, planting flowers, working on my downward dog, or journaling with as many colorful pens as I can muster.