She played a pivotal role in developing the first K-12 Mandarin Chinese program in Nevada at the Cheyenne High School. Ms. Tatum helped the Liberty High School to open its new Chinese program and she also worked on a grant task force that made it possible for the Clark County School District to open a Confucius Classroom. Ms. Tatum obtained her BS degree in Secondary Education at the University of Las Vegas in 2000, MA in Teaching English as a Second Language at Nova University in 2002, and BS in Asian Studies in University of Las Vegas 2010. Ms. Tatum was the Northwest Region Kiwanais Teacher of the Year (2007) and Myra Greenspun Teacher Excellence Award recipient (2010).