(1) Acts as a strong and positive ambassador for EPS
From the moment I walked through the doors of the former Bishop building, I could feel how special of a place EPS was. I love working here, my colleagues, the students, the mission and vision, the FOOD, and the work I am able to do here, and I often share my love for this place and these things about it to those in my circle. I feel like I act as a strong and positive ambassador for EPS in multiple different ways and places.
I talked about how incredible this place was so often to one of my best friends from high school that he eventually applied—and was hired—as a network administrator at EPS in 2014. During his time here, we had the chance to collaborate on several school projects, including designing employee name badges, improving the makerspaces, and building curriculum for new courses like MAKE until he left to take a position with the Bezos Foundation in 2019. It was such a fun, full-circle experience to work professionally with someone I used to partner with on 10th-grade biology projects—though we still occasionally argued like we did back then. (See below for evidence of a childish (but funny) attempt to reclaim my office space from his slowly expanding mess!)
“When my longtime friend Sarah Hollingshead first told me about the job at EPS as the system administrator for the school, her enthusiasm and excitement over the workplace, the people, and the culture, made it that it was the only choice for my next career move. I knew I needed to be a part of the special atmosphere and place that is EPS, and even though I have now left that position I still think very fondly of my time there.
The staff and students have become lifelong friends, the experiences and projects I was involved with have proved invaluable to my career development, and I use many of them as the basis for what I do now.”
–Roger Mack
One of my favorite parts of my job is having the tools and time to make awesome things. I’m a maker at heart, and whenever I have a few free moments, I love creating—especially using the vinyl cutter, laser cutter, or 3D printers at school. I try to photograph and share my creations on Instagram when I remember, both as a personal portfolio and as a way to highlight what’s possible in our space. I always use the hashtag #madeateps for anything I create using our school’s tools. It’s a way to show off what I’ve made, but also (hopefully) to inspire others to explore the Makerspace and discover what they can make at EPS too.
I have also shared on my social media pages the following two cute future EPS Eagles, which has to be a selling point for the school!
Another area I take great pride in is the inclusive community of makers I’ve built in the Middle School Makerspace. This space has had a meaningful impact not just on students, but also on their families. One example is my connection with Griffin Greenberg and their mom, Bridget. I taught Griffin in middle school and often chatted with Bridget, who was then pursuing a graduate degree focused on girls in technology while also working on her teaching credential. A few years later, Bridget reached out to let me know she had been hired as a tech specialist at Medina Elementary, where they were working on launching a makerspace. She asked to meet and exchange ideas, so I invited her and a colleague to tour our space at EPS. It was a wonderful experience—not just because we share a passion for teaching technology, but also because it helped foster a connection with another local educator and school, expanding the network of people dedicated to teaching engineering and tech to young learners.
In a more informal way, I serve as a strong and positive ambassador for EPS by keeping an open-door policy in my classroom and welcoming visitors. The Admissions team and Jonathan Briggs often take advantage of this, bringing prospective students, parents, or educators from other schools to tour the space. I genuinely enjoy these visits—it’s fun to highlight the exciting opportunities available in the makerspace, encourage visiting families to consider EPS, and share insights about how I built and run the Middle School Makerspace. One of my favorite moments is when someone inevitably asks, “What’s your favorite tool in here that every makerspace should have?” See photo below for the answer!
Being part of EPS has been one of the most meaningful and fulfilling chapters of my life, both professionally and personally. I’m proud to represent and advocate for this community wherever I go, and I look forward to continuing to grow, contribute, and share the EPS story with others.
(2) Attends school events and student performances (i.e., arts, athletics, social)
Attending school events and student performances has always been one of my favorite parts of this job. It’s incredibly rewarding to see our students shine in settings outside the classroom—they’re so talented in so many different ways!
The plays and musicals, in particular, have been a highlight for me. I attended my first EPS production, Into the Woods, in May of 2016. The following year, I wanted to be more involved, so I joined the production team as the costume designer for Man of La Mancha.
There was a long stretch when I wasn’t able to attend many performances, starting in 2018 when my husband and I moved to Federal Way. With the commute, there just wasn’t enough time to go home and come back before an evening show started. I brought up this challenge during a listening group, and as a result, some performances now begin earlier—sometimes as early as 4:00 p.m.—making it much easier for staff like me to attend. I really appreciate this change and try to make it to those right-after-school performances whenever I can.
I’ve also started signing up to chaperone the Middle School plays and musicals—it’s a great way to fulfill my chaperoning duties and enjoy a performance at the same time. Most recently, I had the pleasure of doing this for the MS fall play, Ramona Quimby, on November 7, 2024.
Supporting our students beyond the classroom is one of the most fulfilling aspects of my role at EPS. Whether I’m cheering them on from the audience or helping behind the scenes, I feel lucky to be part of a community that celebrates students’ passions and talents in so many different arenas.
(3) Participates visibly in the daily life of the school
This indicator is an interesting one to reflect on. Because the MS Makerspace is such a highly utilized space, I’m often tethered to it—there’s a constant need for adult presence, and that usually means me! (After returning from maternity leave, I heard more than once, “But where is Sudo Sensei?” or “Where is Mr. Yezbik?”—and I never want that to be the case again. 😄) That said, I do make a consistent effort to be present around campus beyond my classroom.
I stop by the LPC for breakfast with colleagues whenever possible, and I eat lunch daily at the outdoor tables by the TALI building, where I can connect informally with both students and staff.
Even when I can’t leave the makerspace, I strive to be a visible, approachable part of the daily rhythm of life at EPS. I try to show up in other areas of school life whenever I can—and because I do love a little spotlight, some of my favorite moments have been during MS Assembly! Over the past few years, EPS has welcomed a growing number of Sarah’s to the faculty and staff. In March 2024, when the Spanish discipline hosted the MS Assembly, they decided to have a little fun with this trend. They invited all the Sarah’s on stage while students taught us about the Spanish verb gustar, followed by a quiz to test our understanding. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to be in front of the whole middle school—and to showcase both my competitive streak and brilliance by winning the Examen de las Sarah’s.
I am not an advisor, which can impact my ability to be a recognizable presence on campus among students I haven’t taught or who don’t frequent the Makerspace. This is especially true for the Upper School students, as I have infrequent opportunities to interact with them. As such, I try to involve myself in areas of the school outside of my discipline and division where possible.
I was thrilled to learn that our school would be participating in the Salmon in the Classroom program through the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery. Having served as the lead teacher for this program at my previous school, I eagerly sought out the opportunity to be involved again here. This experience allowed me to reconnect with my passion for life science and water quality, while also giving me the unique chance to work with former students—now juniors and seniors—whom I had taught in middle school. It was rewarding to engage with them in a new context and see how much they had grown since 8th grade.
As an extension of this project, I’ve also been helping with the restoration efforts at Cochran Springs on our school campus. The hope of this project is to have the stream approved by the county as a salmon release site, so we can involve more middle school students, and potentially the preschool campuses nearby, in releasing the salmon we have raised on campus. On Friday, 3/28/25, I participated in a planting party to replace the blackberry we’d cleared earlier in the school year with healthy native plants, such as Oregon grape, thimbleberries, and sword fern.
Additionally, I have led several EBC week trips for the Upper School. I enjoy this opportunity not only because I get to go cool places (the Galapagos Islands?! Are you kidding me?!), but I’m also able to spend time with my former students and get to know those in the US who I didn’t teach in MS. It makes my face a recognizable one when I encounter students (and US faculty, who I also don’t know well due to limited time spent together) in the LPC and other buildings on campus.
Another way I show up in the daily life of the school is through the projects I’ve made for different people and areas. While this isn’t an example of me as a person showing up, I do contribute to or fully create a variety of different projects for the school. One such example is our employee name badges. This job was passed to me from Roger Mack in 2018, and I had some changes I wanted to make. Our previous badges had our eagle logo, but I had received feedback from the Admissions and College Counseling teams that it was difficult for those outside our community to know which school they were coming from during events. Knowing this, I took on the project of changing the whole design to showcase our EPS “swoosh.” In addition to changing the logo, we also offered employees the option of adding their pronouns to their badge, in an effort to support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at the school.
I have also partnered with Vickie on several sign making projects for the school. One such project was to create some new plaques to hang in the LPC that made note of the winners of different awards each year. Vickie wanted them to be easily changed as new awardees are added, so we decided on etching the name and description of the award on one piece of acrylic, with a blank piece behind it, then we could sandwich paper with the awardees names between the two. I feel proud every time I walk past this wall on my way to lunch!
Recently, I was approached by Krista Kelly, RN, to help her make a sign on her door to show where she was when she wasn’t in the health room. She had been using a printed sign with a post-it note, but wanted something a bit more refined. We met and discussed design ideas and landed on the final product below.
Whether through daily rituals like lunch at the outdoor tables, stepping into the spotlight at assemblies, contributing to cross-divisional programs, or quietly supporting school operations with custom signage and tools, I strive to be a visible, engaged presence at EPS. While I may be rooted in the Makerspace, my connections—and contributions—extend well beyond its walls.
(4) Recognizes and supports diversity in all its forms
As someone who can speak from the “I” perspective in several areas that can be overlooked or judged negatively, recognizing and supporting diversity in all its forms is a central part of my identity and my teaching.
As far as my personal identity is concerned, I push for equity in and showing up as a woman in our community, particularly as a woman who teaches in male-dominated fields. I began my teaching career as a science and math teacher, and I remember being the only woman in the majority of my college courses as I worked on my endorsement. When I began teaching at schools, I made it one of my missions to be an example of strong women in STEM fields and aimed to boost the confidence of women and girls in my classes and beyond. As such, I actively share information about women in STEM, show off my own work in classes, meet with female students who have potential in the field or who are lacking confidence in their abilities, and create shirts and other items in the makerspace to promote women in STEM. I also have helped transform the makerspace into a place that is more comfortable for our female students and provide supplies they are more likely to engage with, such as sewing machines and fuse beads and “pretty” colors of vinyl and filament for the 3D printers. I feel extremely lucky to work with other strong women in STEM fields at EPS who have a similar mission.
Another aspect of my identity that I aim to normalize and build acceptance for in the classroom is neurodivergence. I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and since my son’s Autism diagnosis, I’ve begun to suspect that I may be AuDHD myself. I’m open with students about this part of who I am—not only to signal to those with similar “neuro-spiciness” that they’re welcome and valued in my classroom, but also because neurodivergence can present real challenges in teaching, and I need support from students and colleagues just as much as they may need it from me. Early in the term, I usually talk with my classes about my diagnosis and how it can show up in my teaching—being easily distracted, getting off-topic or hyper-focused on something tangential, or struggling with organization (which is why the room is carefully labeled and why I ask for their help in keeping it that way). I’ve found that students often relate to these experiences, whether they share my diagnosis or not, and that this openness helps build mutual empathy. In turn, students frequently share their own challenges and offer ideas for how I can best support them in the classroom.
Beyond my own identities, I actively work to understand and support those who are not white and/or cisgender. I strive to stand in solidarity with students and colleagues who are people of color and members of the LGBTQIA+ community by learning about their experiences and finding meaningful ways to foster inclusion—both within our EPS community and beyond it. Some of the ways I’ve shown this support include marking my classroom as a safe space, offering everyone at EPS the option to include their pronouns on name badges, and creating and wearing Black Lives Matter shirts after a remote-learning discussion revealed that some viewed the phrase as political (it isn’t). I also incorporate learning opportunities that highlight the contributions of individuals from marginalized identities—for example, exploring Alan Turing’s early computer and watching The Imitation Game as part of my BOTZ curriculum. In an aim to be inclusive of religious diversity, I opened my classroom during Ramadan to the Muslim students who would be fasting during that month. Leila and Aliya thanked me by giving me a temporary henna tattoo at the end of the holy month to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. Above all, I want every student and adult to feel welcome, safe, and empowered to be their full selves in the MS Makerspace and in my presence.
Recognizing and supporting diversity is not a separate initiative—it’s embedded in who I am and how I teach. Whether through personal identity, curriculum choices, or everyday classroom practices, I strive to create a space where all students and colleagues feel seen, respected, and empowered to be themselves. Inclusion isn’t an add-on in my teaching; it’s a foundation.