Erika’s Experiences & Expertise
Over the past two decades, I have developed the following leadership skills, expertise, and experiences, which will bring a unique and valuable perspective to our new board.
When I reflect on my 18 years as an educator, I am humbled by the thought of the hundreds of thousands of students I have had the opportunity to impact. More importantly, I think about the impact they have had on me. When I think of my kids in inner-city Phoenix, the first 
word that comes to my mind is resilience. My students came from resilient families who faced significant challenges, including food insecurity, housing instability, language barriers, and inconsistent school attendance. Yet, despite these obstacles, I had the privilege of working alongside incredibly caring and committed parents who deeply valued their children's education. Together, we built a strong, supportive community that fostered stability and learning. Our shared efforts led to some of the highest literacy and math scores in the district—often exceeding state averages. My experiences with my Phoenix kids taught me the power of relationships, the importance of showing up every day with purpose, and the unwavering truth that all students can achieve at high levels. Education is the great equalizer, and I am committed to ensuring every child has the opportunity to succeed.
One of my favorite recent experiences was working with a
kindergarten class at Central Elementary. I had the joy of working with small groups of students on blending and segmenting sounds—an essential early literacy skill. If you've ever spent time with five-year-olds, you know their energy is boundless, and their attention spans short, so we brought learning to life through movement and play. Whether stepping out sounds like dinosaurs, ninjas, or princesses, we turned phonemic awareness into an engaging adventure. In just three weeks, every student I worked with met or exceeded the goal. This experience reminded me how powerful joy and creativity are in the learning process and how meaningful progress comes from meeting students where they are.
School Board Member- Littleton Elementary School District, AZ
As a school board member, I was trained and worked collaboratively with other board members in the following capacity:
- Setting Vision and Goals – Establishing a clear vision for student achievement and long-term educational success.
- Adopting Policies – Developing and approving district policies that guide operations, instruction, student conduct, and equity.
- Approving Curriculum – Ensuring instructional materials and programs align with state standards and local goals.
- Budget Oversight – Reviewing and approving the annual budget to allocate resources responsibly and equitably.
- Evaluating the Superintendent – regularly evaluating their performance and alignment of decisions with the vision and mission of the district.
- Community Engagement – Encouraging public participation, maintaining transparency, and communicating openly with stakeholders.
- Monitoring Student Achievement – Reviewing data and progress to ensure students meet academic standards and goals.
- Ensuring Legal and Ethical Compliance – Making sure all district actions adhere to laws, regulations, and ethical practices.
- Facility Planning and Maintenance – Overseeing school infrastructure, construction, safety, and capital improvement projects.
- Advocacy – Representing the district’s needs at the local, state, and national levels to support quality public education.
Utah State Board of Education (USBE) Literacy Specialist
As the state literacy specialist, I supported all 121 districts and charter schools throughout the state of Utah; I worked collaboratively with legislatures, state school board members, other state specialists,and district and charter school leadership to develop the following skills and resources and had the following experiences:
I oversaw state funding and implementation of Early Literacy Program and Optional Extended Kindergarten (OEK) which included overseeing the combined budgets of over 100 million dollars and ensured funding expenditures, and early learning plans were in compliance with state law and state board rules.
Resources Created/Updated:
- Early Learning Program Toolkit
- Building Effective Readers Parent Guide
- Utah K-12 Literacy Framework
- Acadience Reading Data Anaylsis Resources
- Systems of Support Resources
- Portrait of a Graduate
- Kindergarten High Leverage Practices Manual
- Teacher Preparation Competencies
- Principal Toolkit
Trainings Created/Provided
- Content Integration (ELA, Math, Science & Social Studies)
- Phonemic Awareness
- Phonics Instruction
- Data Analysis and Decsion Making
- Increasing Student Engagement & Achievement
- Effective Vocabulary Instruction
- Close Reading in Action
- Effective Comprehension Strategies
- Strengthening Your Core: Writing & Text Complexity
- Kindergarten Entry & Exit
- Universal Design For Learning
- Teacher Clarity & Efficacy
- World Languages- AUDII Conference Presenter
- UVU Mentor/Coaching Program Kick-off -Keynote
- Headstart Association Conference- Presenter
- Wasatch Dyslexia Conference- Presenter
Innovative Creation: Instructional Coaching Endorsement
I facilitated collaboratively the creation of the instructional coaching endorsement. The first ever hybrid endorsement of college course work and competencies. This innovation has allowed educators to gain applicable leadership skills to support teachers. Currently there are over 300 educators in Alpine School District that have gone through the coaching endorsement program.
K-12 Instructional Coach
Provo School District
An instructional coach is someone whose chief professional responsibility is to bring evidence-based practices into classrooms by working collaboratively with teachers and other school leaders to support student success. Coaches are experienced, highly accomplished, and well -respected educators. Coaches must have credibility with teachers and administrators, the ability to juggle several roles, and the skills needed to work one-on-one with teachers as well as to oversee a wider professional development effort in the school and district.
Responsibilities and Accomplishments:
- Collaboratively create K-6th grade pacing guides and district assessments based on Utah Core Standards
- Provide professional development on new district program adoption for math
- Collaboratively ran the District Math Committee
- Wrote and Oversaw STEM Action Math Software Grant ($33,000)
- BER Professional Development: Instructional Math Coaching & Differentiation
- Collaboratively developed USBE Core guides and MTSS model guide for teachers and administrators to use
- Worked closely with and supported new teachers and DLI language teachers
- Supported professional learning with Utah Social Studies Standards
- Worked with middle school teachers through the PLC results cycle
- Provo Education Association Board Member, collaboratively worked with the district on contract negotiations
- Worked closely with Latinos in Action students to tutor elementary students in reading skills
District Literacy Specialist
Alpine School District
A literacy specialist is an educator with expertise in reading and writing instruction who supports students, teachers, and coaches, and administrators in improving literacy outcomes. They play a critical role in ensuring all students, regardless of background, have access to high-quality, literacy instruction. Their key responsibilities include:
5 year plan: Collaboratively created 5 year district-wide plan to support teachers and students around literacy goals and instruction.
Support Students: work directly with students, through modeling lessons, interventions, and summer STARS program, who are struggling with reading or writing, providing targeted interventions and assessments supports to boost literacy skills.
Support Teachers: I support all 5th grade teachers in Alpine School District through professional learning, PLC collaboration, and demonstrating lessons, building the capacity of teachers through instructional best practices, and standards and curriculum implementation.
Data Analysis: Analyze student data to identify trends, monitor progress, and recommend best practices that support all learners.
Content Integration: Collaboratively work with science, assessment, math, DLI, SEAO, and gifted and talented specialists and directors to ensure all students and teachers are supported in meaningful ways.
Additional Responsibilities:
- Support all 60 elementary PLC coaches
- Support elementary administrators in the West Division (West Lehi & Saratoga Springs)
- Support all new coaches and teach New Coaching Academy sessions
- Teach the Instructional Coaching Endorsement classes
Elementary Teacher
Issac School District Phoenix, AZ
Supported over 500 inner-city Phoenix students. Teaching to their individual needs through, standards-based instruction, collaboration, data.
In my first year of teaching: Led 29 first graders to 84.2 mastery in reading (22% above district average) and 91.4 mastery in math (31% above district average)
Collaboratively and systemically led my team and 2 other sites to become STEM schools.
Summer School Principal: created a new program based on the laws passed, as well as the needs of the students, through hiring teachers, recruiting students, tracking daily attendance, monitoring growth of student achievement through PLC result cycle, communicating effectively with and managing support staff, handling student discipline, budgeting and buying supplies, creating a schedule for the 3 sites to integrate into one site and work with community partnerships for PE and weekend food bags.
Additional Roles:
- Technology Integration Coach
- ASU iTeach Mentor Teacher
- Student Council Advisor
- District Calendar Committee
- Issac District Education Association Leadership Site Representative
Teach For America Additional Roles:
- Transition Team Lead
- Alumni Giving Campaign Lead
- Leadership Educational Equality (LEE) Member
I have what it takes to be a strong collaborative member of our new school board.
Join Me!
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