Aadina Balti is a dual certified (Moderate Disabilities PreK-8 and Elementary) teacher in the Boston Public Schools, where she currently works as a 4th grade teacher and Math Coach at the Mason Pilot Elementary School. She has led the Math Leadership Team at her school for over 6 years, and has worked as a district-wide facilitator of math workshops. Aadina has also presented at an annual NCTM conference and had an article published in the May 2008 issue of Teaching Mathematics, entitled “Instructional Strategies for Teaching Algebra in Elementary School.” She has a B.A. from Colgate University and an M.A.T. from Tufts University and an M.A.T. from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Nick Churchill is a founding ELA teacher at UP Academy in South Boston, one of the first turnaround schools in Massachusetts. As a 2008 corps member in Teach for America's New Mexico region, he taught RTI Reading and English at Tse Yi Gai High School on the Navajo Nation. In his second year teaching, Nick was nominated for TFA's Sue Lehmann Award for Excellence in Teaching. Nick holds a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from UCLA, and an Ed.M in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His educational interests include school leadership, charter school management, and policy development on the turnaround front.

Christopher Doss is a high school physics teacher at Boston Latin School. Over the past three years he has been involved in the Faculty Senate, School Site Council, and the Optimizing Student Outcomes Committee. He is also a field tester for a new student-centered physics curriculum, a member of a SEPA-NIH grant that is working to develop a novel student-centered biology curriculum, and has helped develop lessons for the school’s environmental science curriculum. Prior to coming to Boston Latin School Christopher taught and chaired the science department at Ranney School in New Jersey. He holds a Masters in Education from Harvard University Graduate School of Education and a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry from Brown University

Erin Dukeshire teaches middle school science at Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School. Working to ensure the success of the school’s turnaround process, Erin is a member of the school’s Turnaround Teacher Team (T3) and the leader of the K-8 science team. An advocate of science education, Erin teaches for the Orchard Gardens Summer Learning Program on the Boston Harbor Islands and has advised scientists and visual artists on Canopy in the Clouds, a web-based, multimedia platform for K-12 earth and life science education. Previously, Erin taught science at the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter School in Boston and served in the Miami-Dade Public School system as a member of Teach for America. In the fall of 2010, Erin was selected as an Education Champion for NBC’s Education Nation and takes part in the annual summit for teachers, education advocates, and policy leaders at Rockefeller Center. Erin recently earned an MA in Teaching from Simmons College and holds a BA in Spanish and Biology from Bowdoin College.

Nicholas Gesualdi is the Director of Partnerships and the 6th Grade Ancient Civilization teacher at Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Roxbury, MA. A 2008 Teach for America Corps member, Nick taught AP US History, AP US Government, and US History at KIPP: Houston High School in Houston, TX. Nick is heavily involved in the Boston Promise Initiative's application to the US Department of Education’s Promise Neighborhood Grant Program, serving as a member of the K-12 Leadership Team and also as a final reviewer. Nick received his Bachelors from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and his Masters of Public Health from the University of Michigan.

Lisa Goncalves Lavin works as a first grade Sheltered English Immersion teacher at the Blackstone Elementary School in Boston and is member of the T3 cohort. Her most recent experience is at the Mildred Avenue in Mattapan, with previous experience in Natick, Framingham, and Cambridge working in diverse classroom settings. Lisa is proficient in Portuguese and Spanish, and holds a Master's degree in Education and Child Development from Tufts University and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Spanish from the College of the Holy Cross.

Riana Good teaches Spanish to grades K1-8 at the teacher-run Boston Teachers Union School, where she also serves on the Governing Board. She has used Spanish in her four years teaching in the Boston Public Schools, as an environmental educator with the Peace Corps in Paraguay, as the Asst. Director of Adult Education at RI’s largest Latino social service agency, and as a community organizer with a primarily Spanish-speaking population in Providence. She received a BS in Neuroscience from Brown University and an MA from Boston College, where she was a Donovan Urban Fellow, Teachers for a New Era Fellow, and recipient of the Annie Ryder Memorial Fellowship. As a cyclist, swimmer, Reiki practitioner, and JourneyDance instructor, Riana incorporates her love of movement into the classroom, as well.

Katie Gribben teaches seventh and eighth grade English Language Arts at Cambridgeport School. In each of her 6 years of teaching, students have made tremendous growth in their reading and writing, measured by state testing scores, district benchmarks and other criteria. Her classroom was videotaped for use in a Fountas and Pinnell literacy instructional DVD. Additionally, Katie regularly presents at national literacy conferences including Literacy for All. Katie began her teaching as a Teach For America corps member and spent two years as a Program Director for TFA. Katie has a B.A. from Rutgers University and a M.A. Ed from Arizona State University.

Audrey Herzig is a fifth-year 5th grade teacher, currently working at the Manning Elementary School in Jamaica Plain, MA. She was drawn to the Manning because of its unique full-inclusion approach for students who have experienced trauma or have emotional disabilities. She believes public education is one of the most powerful forms of social justice, and that all students should be a part of a school community that believes in their potential and supports their growth, no matter how hard of a place they are starting from. Prior to teaching, Audrey worked on a three-year federal grant for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. She researched how elementary students developed critical thinking skills through discussions about art. Audrey incorporates her love of creativity and self-empowerment into her work, and culminates each year with an extended trip. This past year, her students spent a week on a farm in Vermont, working very hard and learning about farm life and teamwork. She earned her B.A. from Williams College, and her M.Ed. through the Boston Teacher Residency Program.

Phuong Luong is a Special Educator and Inclusion Specialist at the Haggerty Elementary School in Cambridge, MA. She is currently a member of the Math Leadership Team, a teacher-led committee at the Haggerty aimed toward strengthening math teaching and facilitating collaboration across grade levels. Prior to her current position, Phuong taught math for one year at The Marion Cross Elementary School in Norwich, VT and with Breakthrough Collaborative as a chemistry and math summer session teacher. In 2006, she was awarded a Woodrow Wilson-Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellowship to pursue a master’s degree in Special Education (mild/moderate learning disabilities). Phuong has a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an Ed.M. from Boston University.

Marta Magnus possesses a love of teaching and learning, especially in the subject of visual art. After majoring in art at Connecticut College she began her teaching career at the International School of Trieste in Italy teaching art. Upon returning to the States, she worked for Citizen Schools, a national organization that runs innovative after-school programs for middle school students. She helped start up the Lowell, MA site as an Americorps volunteer and later became Campus Director while completing a unique Masters in Education degree from Lesley University focused on out-of-school time and leadership. Marta has returned to the classroom and currently teaches art at the Dr. An Wang Middle School in Lowell. She has a strong commitment to teaching art not only for art's sake but to connect it to one's life experiences and to develop creativity. She also strongly believes in the power of connecting learning to the community. For example, she recently spear-headed a project in Lowell which celebrates student achievement in art through on-going art displays in local businesses.

Lillie Marshall, a Boston native, is an English and Humanities middle and high school teacher at Boston Latin Academy. After graduating from Brown University with a B.A. in Comparative Literature, Lillie earned her M.A.T. from Simmons College while student teaching at Codman Academy Charter School in Dorchester. Subsequently, Lillie taught ELA 9-12 at Charlestown High from 2004-2009, before taking a Leave of Absence to travel around the world for a year to volunteer teach and write, documented at AroundTheWorldL.com. At BLA, Lillie is passionate about collaborating with colleagues to create rigorous, relevant, and wildly fun curriculum. She loves connecting students with travel (ex: a student trip to China in February), entrepreneurship and networking (with several EdTech start-ups and conferences), and online writing opportunities for real audiences (as with the two websites she founded and runs). Lillie was chosen as a 2011 Massachusetts Literacy Champion, and is eager to bring the joy of high quality, relevant education to as many people around the world as possible. In addition to feeding and educating the "whole child," Lillie aims to create a world which feeds and honors the "whole teacher."

Suzie McGlone's career reflects her interest in sustainable schools and systems that support access to quality education for all learners. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill she worked as a cued language transliterator and instructor for hearing impaired college students. Also while in North Carolina she created and implemented the special education program for Orange Charter School. Since arriving in Boston she has worked with community partnerships in the Boston Public Schools. At Urban Scholars UMass Boston she oversaw professional development in three high schools and one middle school. Much of this work focused on supporting teachers with middle school math instruction as well as the initial implementation of the MCAS Alternate Assessment portfolios. She worked as a writing teacher at the Patrick F. Gavin Middle School for five years and currently teaches students in grade 5 at Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School. She serves as a lead writer for the Performance Standards Writing Project with the MA DESE as well as creates the grade 8 ELA MCAS as a committee member of the MCAS Assessment Development Committee. She continues to foster community partnerships to support her students’ learning. A recent example of this is taking her students for weekly visits to GoKids, a gym for urban adolescents at UMass Boston.

Michelle Morrissey teaches History and Special Education at the Academy of the Pacific Rim High School in Hyde Park, where she chairs the 12th grade team and serves as member of the school’s Academic Council. Prior to coming to APR, Michelle was a founding teacher at Teachers Preparatory School in New York City, where she also served as the school’s United Federation of Teachers Chapter Leader. She has also worked as a union organizer with a progressive health care union in CT. Michelle earned her BA with Honors in History from Columbia University and her MA in Education from Brooklyn College (CUNY) through the New York City Teaching Fellows program.

Deborah Opar is in her sixth year of teaching at Prospect Hill Academy Charter School in Somerville, MA where she teaches 6th grade Ancient Civilizations and is the New Teacher Mentor at the Upper Elementary campus. After graduating from Bates College, Deborah earned her Masters in Education through a collaborative program with Shady Hill and Lesley University which helped form her appreciation for student-centered learning. Deborah currently facilitates the 6th grade humanities Collaborative Inquiry team, whose data and common instructional practices have been highlighted at several academic showcase events. Currently, in her mentoring role, Deborah designs and implements the induction curriculum for all new teachers to the Upper Elementary Campus. She is working with mentors at the other campuses to align the mentoring program for all grades K-12 while also working to give new teachers a variety of individualized learning experiences that both support and challenge them as they work towards meeting their personal goals. Also, this past summer, Deborah earned a scholarship through the Prospect Hill Academy Charter School Foundation’s Faculty Enrichment Fund to travel to China with other Boston-based educators, and she is eager to bring the knowledge she gained, as well as some exciting cultural artifacts back to her classroom.

Najia is in her sixth year of teaching at the Mattahunt Elementary School in Boston, MA. She is a third grade English Language Arts teacher and the school's Literacy Coordinator. Throughout her time at the Mattahunt, she has served on the School Site Council, Instructional Leadership Team, and Data Inquiry Team. In her work as a teacher leader, Najia has mentored new and veteran teachers, has participated in and implemented Instructional Rounds, and has designed and facilitated school-based professional development. She holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and a Master’s in Education from Boston College.

Geoff Rose is in his sixth year at the Dever-McCormack K-8 School where he is currently teaching 4th grade. Geoff has been an active teacher leader throughout his tenure at the school and has been significantly involved in his school’s turnaround process as a member of the stakeholders’ team, interview committee, grade level team leader and Instructional Leadership Team member. He has successfully written and received a number of grants from Fund For Teachers, Good Sports, Comcast, Target, and the National Cristina Foundation. He has continued to support the learning and growth of Dever-McCormack students by working at and coordinating Acceleration Academies during vacation weeks and summer school programs. Geoff has a B.A. in Elementary Education and Human Development from Boston College, a M.Ed. in Moderate Special Needs from Boston College, and is currently pursuing his M.Ed in Educational Leadership at BC.

Gene Roundtree, from Morristown, New Jersey, is a biology teacher at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Boston. He graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in Communication and as co-captain of the BU Track team. Gene began his career with Boston Public Schools in 2003 as a paraprofessional at McKinley Middle School. He began teaching biology at Madison Park in 2004. In 2006, Gene and three colleagues were awarded Earthwatch fellowships and travelled to Brazil during the summer to work as research volunteers on an ecology study involving the capture and study of bats, wild pigs, and caiman (small crocodiles). Gene took a leave of absence in from Madison Park in 2008 to pursue an M.Ed in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education on a Conant Fellowship and spent the following summer working planning the BPS New Teacher Institute as an Education Pioneers Fellow. Since returning to Madison Park, has worked with his colleagues on instructional leadership team to create data-driven solutions that increase student performance, teacher collaboration and teacher efficacy school wide. In addition to his teaching duties, Gene works with the Boston Private Industry Council's Classroom in the Workplace program that provides students with summer internships that include paid MCAS preparatory classes, and works on the Great Diseases Biology 2 curriculum with staff from Madison Park, Boston Latin School and Tufts University.

Xavier is an Instructional Technology/Digital Media Lead Teacher at English High School, and is on the Headmaster's Advisory Board Member, NEASC Committee, and Instructional Leadership Team. He recently graduated as a James Bryant Conant Fellow in the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the Technology, Innovation & Education program. He comes to Teach Plus with a BA in anthropology from Wesleyan University, an MA. from The New School of Social Research, extensive teaching experience in urban schools and has held a number of leadership positions in social enterprise initiatives. He is very excited to to have been selected as a fellow and is looking forward to working with all of you as we strive to affect positive policy change in our schools and the ed sector as a whole.

Emily Salander is currently the 5th grade Learning Specialist at Excel Academy Charter School in East Boston. She also serves as the 5th grade level chair and the special education advisor to Excel Academy Chelsea. Over the past two years Emily has worked in conjunction with the Learning Support Team to expand Excel’s special education program. Emily has also led the 5th grade team in creating a more inclusive curriculum and approach. Emily joined Excel as a Teach For America corps member and has committed to remain in the classroom. Emily graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BA in Psychology and Comparative Arts. She is currently working on her M.Ed. from Boston University. Prior to teaching at Excel Academy, Emily worked in the education departments at the St. Louis Contemporary Art Museum and the Kemper Art Museum, where she focused on expanding the perspectives of local students through art.

Kelly Tynan is currently a 7th grade inclusion teacher at UP Academy Charter School of Boston, the first in district charter school in Massachusetts. She had previously worked as a fourth grade teacher in the Boston Public Schools. Prior to teaching she worked as the Executive Director of West Roxbury Main Streets, where she helped revitalize a neighborhood business district. She also worked as a legislative aide/community liaison for a Boston City Councilor. A graduate of Boston Latin School, Kelly received a BA in Political Science from Stonehill College, a Master of Public Administration from Suffolk University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Simmons College. She is currently pursuing a degree in Educational Leadership at Simmons College.

Irischa M. Valentin is a dual-language Spanish teacher at the Dever-McCormack K-8 School. She has been teaching for 6 years. As an alumni of the Boston Public Schools, she often volunteers for Boston Public Schools through the BPS Ambassadors program. She has a strong belief in the public school system, in which she hopes to improve through her teaching. Irischa received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders from Emerson College, and holds an M.A.T. from the University of Massachusetts through the Boston Teacher Residency Program.

Andrew Vega is in his second year at Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Roxbury and teaches 8th grade English/Language Arts and SEI. A native of Southern California, Mr. Vega holds a Bachelor of Arts degrees in English from UCLA. After college, he taught high school English for three years (the first two as Teach For America corps member) in South Central Los Angeles where he served as English department chair and founded the AP/Honors program. In 2009, he was named a College Board AP Fellow for his commitment to creating equity in AP classrooms. Mr. Vega also holds a Masters Degree in Secondary Education from Loyola Marymount University. He joined the Orchard Gardens team in 2010 after winning the Sontag Prize in Urban Education and spending a week with Boston Public Schools. In addition to his teaching duties at OGPS, he is also a Manager of Teacher Leadership Development for all current Teach For America corps members at the school.

Jeff Vogel is a 10th year history teacher and social studies team leader at Prospect Hill Academy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He teaches Advanced Placement U. S. History, a South African history elective, and an Economics & Global Poverty elective. Jeff has served as a teacher representative on his school’s Board of Trustees, where he helped implement an innovative compensation structure to attract and retain good teachers. He has also received grants to participate in both the Fulbright-Hays Seminar in China and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Summer Seminar in South Africa. Jeff has a B.A. in Political Science from Cornell University, an M.A. in Education from Stanford University, and an M.A. in History from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Rebecca Westlake is an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher and the Director of the ESL Program at Phoenix Charter Academy in Chelsea, Massachusetts. During the past year, Rebecca has restructured the ESL program to accommodate a recent doubling in the number of students served. She is also piloting a program this year, Newcomer Academy, designed to ease the transition of recent immigrants to ESL and sheltered instruction classes. Rebecca is an alumnus of Teach for America and a former Fulbright scholar. Rebecca has a BA in English from Bates College and a MAT from American University.