Experience

More than 30 years of teaching and leading in the arts, from pre-K through university.

Career

Dance Director & Fine Arts Department Lead
2020–present
Woodland High School, Bartow County School District · Cartersville, Georgia
Redesigned the class structure and rebuilt the dance program, teaching ballet, jazz, modern, and contemporary. As department lead I support all fine arts faculty, run department planning, observe and coach teachers, oversee fine arts events, and co-produce and choreograph fine arts productions. Secured a $5,000 grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts to support school-wide musical programs for both the 2025–2026 and the 2026–2027 grant cycles.
Dance Instructor
2012–2021
Steps of Faith Dance Studio · Cartersville, Georgia
Started Karina’s Class, an inclusive class for dancers of all abilities that now continues at Woodland High School.
Adjunct Professor of Dance
2013–2018
Reinhardt University School of Performing Arts · Waleska, Georgia
Taught ballet, tap, and jazz to musical theatre students, most with no previous dance training, and choreographed department productions.
Founder & Managing Director
2011–2013
Northwest Atlanta Lango
Founded a program bringing research-based foreign language instruction to children in Bartow, Cherokee, and North Cobb counties.
Dance & Theatre Teacher
2002–2010
Cobb County School District
Taught dance and theatre to grades 6–8 at three middle schools: ballet, jazz, and modern performance classes, nine-week cultural and social dance units, and musical theatre.

National Conference Presenter, “Dance for Every Body”
2025
National Dance Education Organization
Teacher Participant, Connected Arts Network national PLC
2024–present
National Dance Education Organization
Two cycles of action research on my own teaching. Each cycle follows the same steps: reflect, act, assess, and revise.
Member, Power Standards Writing Committee for Dance Education
2005
Georgia Department of Education
Wrote Georgia’s state power standards for dance.

Kinesiology for dance educators (OPDI 110)
2018
NDEO Online Professional Development Institute
Leadership Bartow
2018
Cartersville-Bartow Chamber of Commerce
Leadership Academy and Teacher Leader Institute
2008
Cobb County School District
Member
2003–present
National Dance Education Organization

Bartow County Schools Aspiring Leaders program
Gholdy Muhammad’s five pursuits: identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy
Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process

Board Member
2020–2026
Red Door Food Pantry
Helped grow the pantry from a church ministry into an independent 501(c)(3), and supported strategic planning, budgeting, and fundraising while representing the pantry at community events.
Board Member & Human Resources Committee Representative
2019–2025
The Etowah Foundation
Part of the board’s strategic planning and decision making, and counsel to the director on hiring, evaluation, and other HR matters.
Senior Warden (2020), Junior Warden (2019) & Vestry Member
2017–2020
The Episcopal Church of the Ascension
Led the church’s daily operations, budget, and staffing through the pandemic, and served as liaison to the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta while the church was without a rector.