Experience
May 2020
- Accepted into the nursing program at William Jewell College as an accelerated track BSN – RN student
- Certified in Basic Life Support and Basic First Aid
August 2016 – May 2020
- Attended Metropolitan Community College, Blue River Campus, pre-requisite science classes for nursing school
- Fort Osage School District, Independence, Missouri – Substitute teacher and Paraprofessional, K-12
- Volunteer band mom/chaperone on numerous road trips for the Fort Osage School Marching Band
December 1991 – January 2015
- The Kansas City Star. – Narrative Feature Writer covering military and medical stories
- First female journalist from The Star to cover war in Iraq and Afghanistan, embedded with troops. Travelled in C-130s, and Chinook helicopters, writing about the troops’ daily lives
- Sent quickly to disasters as The Star’s jump reporter: Hurricane Katrina, (embedded with FEMA); Joplin tornado, and smaller events with tornados, floods, accidents
- Known for ability to engage people who previously refused to talk with media
- Awarded a journalism scholarship to a seminar on Critical Incident Stress in War and Disasters, in Washington D.C.
- Gave numerous speeches about reporting in war zones and disasters, including one after the Joplin tornado, on Critical Incident Stress to nursing staff at North Kansas City Hospital
- Won the Pulliam National Writing Award for a medical series on a baby named Zeke, born with Trisomy 13, and how perinatal hospice care for families first began and how it has changed
- Read a selection of my medical stories
August 2002 – May 2008
- The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, Kansas City, Missouri – Bass Trombonist
- Played professional jazz concerts throughout Kansas City in this band and several others
January 1992 – July 1997
- Diva: No Man’s Band, New York, New York – Bass Trombonist
- Traveled around the world, playing concerts from Carnegie Hall to Rome
- Taught area private lessons, and at high school/college band clinics
- Freelanced articles to music journals, travel magazines and newspapers
June 1988 – October 1989
- Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line, American Hawaii Cruises – Bass Trombonist
- Worked as cruise ship musician in Caribbean and Hawaii
August 1983 – June 1985
- Denton Hospital, Denton, Texas – Outpatient Surgery Registration Clerk
- Gathered patients’ personal and insurance information
January 1980 – June 1983
- St. Anthony’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio – Weekend Emergency Room Clerk
- First point of contact for patients; gathered personal and insurance information
Education
- William Jewell College – Bachelor of Science in Nursing (expected graduation: 2021)
- Metropolitan Community College, Blue River Campus – pre-requisites for nursing school (GPA: 3.8)
- University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas – Master of Journalism (1994)
- University of North Texas, Denton, Texas – Master of Music (1988)
- Capital University Conservatory of Music, Columbus, Ohio – Bachelor of Music (1983)
Professional Affiliations
- Society of Professional Journalists
- Military Editors and Writers
- Kansas City Federation of Musicians, AFL-CIO
Personal Achievements
- Married 28 years to Keith
- Mother to two children; Hannah, 19 and Jesse, 12, both IVF successes after years of infertility
- Earned Black Belt in Taekwondo, May 2018
- A wolf-watcher/primitive camper in Yellowstone National Park for more than nine summers
- Bass trombonist, NorthWinds Symphonic Band,(since 2016) and in numerous other gigs around Kansas City
