I am beginning year 35 of my teaching career. I have worked in a variety of school settings in both Montana and North Dakota. These range from a one room country school (Horse Creek) to a very small rural school with a total of 30 students K-12 (Bowbells, ND) and class B school (Kenmare, ND) to Sidney a class A school. Most of my teaching experience and years were spent in kindergarten classrooms, title 1 and library settings. I started my career by teaching junior high science in East Fairview for three years.

I grew up on a farm/ranch north of Richey, Montana and went to college at Dickinson State and the University of Montana. I married my high school sweetheart and best friend who is from Sidney- Ken Barnhart in 1982. We have two daughters. Stephanie lives in Portland, Oregon and Ashley lives in Denver, Colorado. We love spending time with them in the city.