• 15 years teaching experience at Lincoln Christian, both elementary and secondary
• 4 years as high school English teacher
• 9 years Yearbook & Journalism Advisor
• English Department Head at Lincoln Christian as of August 2022
• Writing Curriculum Advisory position at LCS 4th-12th grade as of August 2022
• Adjunct professor through Nebraska Wesleyan, teaching dual enrollment in English
• NeWP involvement since 2021

When asked about the Nebraska Writing Project experience, Gretchen said “Participation in the Nebraska Writing Project Summer Institute in 2021 showed me that I was not alone. It was invigorating to hear ideas from teachers who had a wide variety of classroom experiences. They were willing to support me and to remind me of the joy in teaching writing. I had lost that joy.” The expectations for teachers to passionately innovate and reinvigorate students that were deeply impacted by the events of 2020, were beyond any that professional development could teach. There was a new ‘normal’ for life and for teaching in the classroom, and time was needed to help students and teachers to reflect on their feelings and lives. “I felt empowered to implement the philosophy and values of the NeWP into my own classroom. It was not the time to be rigid and unyielding, but instead to embrace the messiness of ideas and encourage thought in the writing experience. I saw growth come out of it, and that’s a big win. Writing needed to be about thinking authentically through humility and vulnerability, not perfect grammar and checkbox thinking.”