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I
was born in a little town named Sulphur in Louisiana, not
far from Lake Charles to the East and the Texas border to
the West. My family moved to Palo Alto when I was 7
years old, and bought our first house on David Court, near
Midtown. I went to Palo Verde School for a few months,
and then we moved to College Terrace, so I switched schools
and attended Stanford Elementary (which is no longer there).
I
started acting in plays at the Children's Theatre when I was
8-- I would take the bus from my house to Lucie Stern Center,
and remember getting on the wrong bus a lot going home.
Thank goodness the bus drivers were really nice and would
always make sure I got home okay!! I remember playing
a black cat, lots of villagers, a few peasants, and my one
great speaking role, Humpty Dumpty in Who Stole the Tarts.
I was a little skinny thing, and I had a big egg-shaped costume
like a wire frame covered with fabric and a top hat that all
rested on my head. I got headaches with each performance,
and I couldn't see very well, so another kid playing a Page
would escort me on stage-- but I was so proud of my three
lines!!
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I
went to Terman Junior High School, then to Paly for my sophomore
year; and then got to go to the brand new high school, Gunn
Sr. High, for my junior and senior years. There was
no senior class that first year, so my class was "top dog"
for two years in a row-- and the whole school was really
small. I was in the FIRST graduating class of Gunn
Sr. High-- yah, a looong time ago.
In my high school years, I played Emily in Our Town, Lady
Macbeth in Macbeth, lots of minor roles, and did a ton
of
backstage work like props, stage management, make-up
and costumes. I also liked to make posters for publicity.
Back then, Palo Alto Players did something called Teen
Players in the summer, and in those shows I got to be
Susanna Wolcott
in The Crucible, and a Reporter in The Visit. More recently,
I played Costanza the Italian housekeeper in a production
of Enchanted April at the Bus Barn theatre in Los Altos.
I spoke only Italian the whole show, and some people thought
I was really Italian!
I
also studied piano from the time I was three; I thought
at one time about becoming a professional pianist!
I can play violin and guitar,
drums a little, and recorder
if I have to.
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Dance
has been another life-long love. I've studied
tap, ballet, jazz dance, and modern dance (in high
school I was in a group that performed in San Francisco
and on PBS). As an adult I studied Middle Eastern
dance, and performed with my class at local clubs. My
dance training often got me cast in shows, like The
Wizard of Oz at Children's Theatre, or Kiss Me Kate
in Sunnyvale.
My
adult life has taken me many different directions, but
I've always kept up my love of theatre, music
and dance. I went back to school to get a Masters
and a PhD. in Theatre, and that's where I found that
I was a good director and dramaturg. So I continue to direct for local theatres (I've won several awards for my shows), and write theatre reviews for the Palo Alto Weekly.
After
teaching on the college level for a while, I decided
I would rather work with younger people-- and that is
when I heard about a job teaching Drama at Jordan-- I
taught Drama for 10 years here.
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THEN... a new phase in my career!
I
began work with computers when I was in graduate
school, and that began another passion in me, to
learn all I could about this new technology and its
capabilities.
My
first computer was an IBM clone using the first MS-Dos, and I was one of the first people I knew to have a personal computer! I did my dissertation on it, and then shortly thereafter the Internet was created and began a whole new WORLD of communication and information technology.
From the first, I was fascinated with what computers could do and how the "average person" could use them to their advantage in all walks of life-- be it for professional or personal activities. A few years
later, I got a Mac and fell in love with that platform, so
I'm quite happy with all the Macs at Jordan.
All
the years I've been at Jordan I have also been a tech mentor,
serving on the tech advisory committee and assisting
other teachers with learning about and integrating technology
into their classrooms. So when the opportunity arose
to make the switch to teaching the Computer classes at Jordan,
I was excited to step into a whole new career!
I
had to pass a seven-hour exam, which took a lot of studying
and help from colleagues. But now that I'm "official" I'm
having loads of fun learning more about what I can do
to help students prepare for their digital futures! |
THINGS I LOVE:
* my daughter, and my fiance Gordon
* a day on the beach, in any weather, just walking and looking at the ocean
* cats-- I had a little gray cat named Cheetah
* elephants-- I've been collecting small elephants since I was about
ten. And real elephants are very noble-- and smart!
* a great piece of cheesecake
* musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein
* birthday parties
* almost any kind of music-- jazz, classical, rock, rap, weird stuff,
pop standards, Broadway, world beat
* singing!!!
* being on stage (duh); or better yet, directing
* traveling just about anywhere
* Pt. Reyes, Carmel, Pacific Grove, Santa Cruz
* Central and Northern Italy-- especially Cinque Terre, Siena, and Roma
* Scotland - ask me about
the spelling of my name...
*
Cajun cooking, especially my own
*
getting jokes in my e-mail --
send me a good one!
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