What is your experience with Lacrosse?

I grew up in New England and started playing lacrosse in middle school. I was born with Spina Bifida (which among many things, involves having a missing bone in my spine) and so we were always cautious about me playing high-contact sports like football and hockey. The compromise with lacrosse was that I became a goalie. I played all throughout middle school and then in high school at The Portsmouth Abbey (which is actually a co-ed sister school of the Priory here in St. Louis). 

What is your professional/educational background?

I always knew that if I found my way into education, I would jump at the opportunity to coach lacrosse. Though teaching was an early aspiration (as far back as high school), it wasn't until the last few years that I found my way into the classroom. After playing a little bit of club lacrosse, I received my undergraduate degree in English from the University of Richmond in Virginia and then made my way out to the Midwest for the very first time to attend Covenant Theological Seminary. I graduated with my Masters of Divinity in 2013 and then spent the next decade working as a researcher, writer, and pastoral assistant at The Journey. Last year, in my first year of full-time teaching at Westminster, I joined the coaching staff of our girls program, serving as the goalie coach for the whole program and the JV coach.

How did you find out about Westminster?

I have been in the St. Louis area for close to fifteen years now. I've had various friends from seminary teach here and many coworkers at The Journey who have been a part of the Westminster community, including Michelle Burke and Tim Holley. Though I always knew I wanted to teach, it took some time to figure out the context for that calling. My time as the Teaching Director over Teen Community Bible Study (TeenCBS) in my late twenties/early thirties reignited a desire to help students make sense of the Bible and understand the gospel, which had been there in my college years as a Young Life leader. All that transpired in 2020 accelerated some changes in my role at The Journey and allowed me to slow down and consider what it might look like to jump out of the church and into the classroom. Through abundant encouragement and support from pastors and fellow staff at The Journey, I began subbing at Westminster in 2021-2022 and by God's provision and perfect timing a full-time position in the Bible department opened up the following year.

What are you most excited for in the upcoming season? 

I'm excited to retrieve something that was lost when we did not have an upper school boys program last year and to build something new. I'm also excited to do this with a group of seniors who are looking beyond themselves to invest in a program that they will only experience first hand for one season. Truthfully, I was (and am still) anxious about jumping into the head coaching role so early into my teaching and coaching career, but I knew that we needed several of these seniors to really kickstart boys lacrosse at Westminster. Right now, we have over 20 high school guys from every grade level, many who are trying out the sport for the first time. It's going to be an adventure. And it's going to be really fun to watch these guys and this program grow!