About Karen

Karen grew up in the Pacific Northwest near Seattle, Washington. As a youngster, she enjoyed many road trips down to Irvine to visit her nana. So, when the opportunity arose to move to Santa Cruz for college, she jumped at the chance to live in the sunny place of her childhood vacations. She has been here ever since, working for an Americorps program in Oakland, then moving to Southern California to work for Naturalists at Large (an outdoor education company). When she met her husband Adam, they decided to settle in Ventura. Karen attended Antioch University, Santa Barbara and began working at Ventura Charter School in 2006. Her teaching career spanned the upper grades, 5th – 8th for the first 15 years, then life landed her in Ojai, teaching 2nd grade for the last two years. Karen is very excited to bring her depth of knowledge and broad experience to the role of Educational Facilitator. She loves to collaborate with others and enjoys the challenge of finding a “just right” book for every reader.
In her free time, Karen likes to hike, read, and spend time with her family. She loves to travel; her favorite destinations include Portugal, Costa Rica, and Berlin. However, you will most often find Karen taking trips to visit her family in the Seattle area. Next summer, she hopes to go to France to hike the Mont Blanc trail.