MY experience

I have been working with teenagers in education for over twenty-five years: ten years in Admissions and Student Services at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), several years as an independent consultant, and a eight years as an Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) tutor in the St. Paul Public Schools, primarily at Highland Park Senior High. AVID is a program that supports first-generation college students in advanced placement classes and helps them apply for college.

my interests

I have read extensively on child development, especially teenage brain development. The more we know about teenage brains, the more “sense” their erratic behavior makes. They may look like adults on the outside, but lurking inside that adult body is the brain of a kid in transition to being an adult. Becoming an adult is not a smooth, straight-forward process: it is two steps forward, three steps back.

My oldest child is on the autism spectrum and she has ADHD. She and I have had to learn a lot about how she can be successful in school. (Hint: We got a lot of outside help.) She completed two years of college at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design after high school. She took LONG break from college and is now back—this time at UMN-TC majoring in Environmental Science. There was a pivot there…

I have a lot of compassion for square pegs in the school system of round holes. I have also come to realize that, really, in the end, we are all square pegs somewhere.

I am a member of a non-profit, INEquality, that works to abolish the adult-level incarceration of mostly brown and black teenage boys. I feel passionately that the American juvenile justice system needs to be reformed. Teenagers need to be mentored, not locked up. Everything I have learned about teenage brain development guides my thinking in this area.

MY EDUCATION

I have an undergraduate degree in English from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and a Master's in Liberal Studies from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Now it’s your turn. Contact me and let’s get started!

jenna says:

I love other people’s teenagers because they don’t press MY buttons like they press yours. I love how teenagers think—and sometimes don’t think.

My oldest child is on the autism spectrum and has ADHS. School has always been hard for her. The best thing I ever did for her, and for me, was to get outside help.

When my teenagers applied for college, my partner and I felt overwhelmed by the college application and financial aid process—and I had worked in college admissions and student services for ten years. I thought I knew everything I needed to know. Things change.