She was born and raised in Upstate New York in a log cabin near farm country. She graduated with a Regents Degree from Ichabod Crane High School, the same school from which the “Ichabod Craned” expression originated.
In 1997, she joined the New York State Air National Guard, serving as an Emergency Medical Technician, a Medical Service Apprentice, and a Flight Medical Technician for the 139th Air Medical Evacuation Squadron. In 2000, she picked up and moved to Charleston, SC, where she began working as a Reimbursement Coordinator for the Medical University of South Carolina. She quickly found her niche in Compliance and was promoted to Compliance Manager for all Ancillary Services. Tara’s associations include being elected President of the Palmetto Professional Coders Association, as well as memberships of Last Chance for Animals, the ASPCA, and the Elephant Sanctuary and a former victim’s advocate for People Against Rape.
In 2008, she met and married her military husband John, and they moved to Wichita, KS, where she worked in a private sector medical insurance company. In 2011, they moved again. This time, she went to Anchorage, Alaska, where she worked at the medical group on Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson. In 2013, they had their beautiful daughter, Hannah Kathlyn. Tara became a stay-at-home mom for the next several years, went back to college, and earned her bachelor’s degree in human resource development. In 2017, the family retired from active-duty military service after 26 years. John took a position in Colorado Springs with a local defense contracting company, and they moved to Briargate, where the family currently resides.
Tara began volunteering in the office at Hannah’s preschool in Black Forest and then at Hannah’s kindergarten at Edith Wolford Elementary School. This led to a full-time position as an Instructional Paraprofessional and then to Guest Teaching. At the beginning of the 21-22 school year, they transferred Hannah to
New Summit Charter Academy, where Tara also began Guest Teaching.
Tara stays busy! She loves being a mother. She has a weakness for animals, especially dogs, and sometimes helps at a local family’s small farm with their two cats, three dogs, two goats, and two donkeys. She owns a small business that provides part-time remote administrative services. She served for five years as the Team Mom for Hannah’s soccer team, the Wolves, who compete in the Pride Soccer Organization. Her passion is researching genealogy, and in her spare time, she is working to become a Certified Genealogist.