Kōrero EAG - Start Local, Go Global

"The pandemic shook us out of our teaching habits and forced us to find an alternative to in-person teaching. Like everyone else, I drank from the fire hose of online technology, and through the fatigue and misery of it all, I began to see the potential of the online lectures that were taking shape. They were as primitive as the first draft of any paper. But I was hopeful. I could do this. And I did not have to be on camera if I did not want to."

"The pandemic shook us out of our teaching habits and forced us to find an alternative to in-person teaching. Like everyone else, I drank from the fire hose of online technology, and through the fatigue and misery of it all, I began to see the potential of the online lectures that were taking shape. They were as primitive as the first draft of any paper. But I was hopeful. I could do this. And I did not have to be on camera if I did not want to."

Dave Cardona is a Graphic Designer in the Clothing Industry and has worked for over 20 years. Dave developed his passion for Graphic Design and Art by collecting Sports Trading cards and reading Sports Illustrated as a young boy. His first job as a Graphic Designer was in the Clothing Industry, and he continues to design, source and manufacture clothing with vendors overseas.

Carol Jiménez was elected to the Perris Elementary School District Board of Education in November 2022 and sworn into office in December 2022. Carol started her tenure in the district as a teacher, and as she noticed the disparity of the children in her district wrote grants to start a preschool program for the district. The grants were awarded and Carol became the Director of Child Development Programs for the District. With collaboration and funding from the state and First 5 a unique school readiness facility was built in Perris, named Rob Reiner Children & Families Development Center. The goal of the preschool programs was to address children and families’ needs to prevent barriers from being successful in school. She has two master’s degrees in Education, one from UCR and one from Cal State, San Bernardino. Her goal for being on the school board is to continue to serve the community with transparency and excitement!Lisa Evans Powell was elected to the Conejo Valley Unified School District Board of Education in November 2022. She is a Southern California native and holds Master's degrees in Social Welfare and Public Policy (as well as her Bachelor’s) from UCLA and a Doctorate of Social Work from USC (University of Southern California). She is a social worker, researcher, and active community volunteer who views her school board role as another way to serve her community. Lisa is thrilled at her new role, as she is of the belief that there is nearly no greater honor than playing a role in the education and development of our children and youth.

Dr. Denise Kennedy is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Studies at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is part of an early childhood education collaborative in California called PEACH (Partnership in Education, Articulation, and Collaboration in Higher Education) and co-leads the Credential workgroup. Dr. Kennedy is on the leadership team for the CA Baccs group of 4-year University baccalaureate programs in California. She is on the California Commissioning on Teacher Credentialing Teacher Performance Assignment Design team for the Teacher level of the Child Development Permit and is active in the state in creating the PK-3 Early Childhood Specialist Instruction Credential. Given the push down of K-12 into early childhood, she is working with other Early Childhood Education (ECE) Professionals to create a developmentally appropriate credential through best practices in Child Development/ECE BA programs and Credential programs in CA. She is the Principal Investigator for the Cal Poly Pomona portion of the UP-LIFT California grant, where she and her team of Norco College, Baldwin Park Unified School district, and Early Edge California have created 8 DLL Competencies as well as an observation Tool to assess them in the classroom.

Dr. Chris Burns has been the Executive Director of Boys Republic since 2010 and has been employed there in various capacities for the last 30 years. His wife, Brandy, and he have raised their two boys in the Chino Valley, with one graduating from Cal Poly Pomona and working as an electrical engineer and the other in his junior year at Cal State Long Beach on a baseball scholarship. His passions begin with family and friends, assisting the less fortunate, and partnering with the Friends of Steve McQueen to bring a world-class car show to Boys Republic each June.

Dr. Christy Pattengill-Semmens is Reef Environmental Education Foundation's Co-Executive Director of Science & Engagement. She has been with REEF for almost 30 years and has overseen the expansion of its citizen science fish monitoring program over the last 2 decades. Christy’s role at REEF intersects citizen science, education, and conservation, engaging REEF’s members to advance the organization’s mission of protecting biodiversity and ocean life. She oversees all aspects of the Volunteer Fish Survey Project, facilitates the incorporation of REEF’s citizen science data into resource management policy and the scientific literature, and regularly leads expeditions as part of REEF’s Field Survey Trips program. She is also a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame.FB: https://www.facebook.com/REEF.org

Louis is a very talented individual. He played three sports in high school basketball, baseball, and football. He also played the clarinet in high school and really enjoyed it. He graduated from St. Cloud State University with a bachelor's in manufacturing engineering. Now he is an engineer working on designing machines that deal with tires. His ultimate goal is to create a product that will impact many. He officiates basketball, football, volleyball, and soccer, and umpires softball, where he goes by the name of BlueLou. He wants five kids one day so he can have a huge family and leave his legacy behind. He wants to be great and to be great, you have to motivate others around you, which he does daily.IG: SteveyyjayylouFB: SteveyyjayylouTwitter: Steveyyjayylou

Dr. Joel Wong is a Professor of Counseling Psychology in the School of Education at Indiana University. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and of the Asian American Psychological Association. Joel conducts research on the science of gratitude interventions and practices. joelwong@indiana.edu

After working for 25 years as an educator in the private sector, Alda joined the Guiare team as Director and copartner in 2014. Since then, she has dedicated her time designing and implementing workshops as well as preparing the academic materials to complement the current national pedagogical strategies.She works closely with the Costa Rican Department of Education doing staff development for public school preschool teachers around the country. She is convinced that by improving the quality of public education, she can positively contribute to the reduction of the wide socio-economic gap present in Costa Rican society.https://www.amigosofcostarica.org/LinkedIn: Alda CañasFB: Alda Cañas

Marie Cardona is an environmental engineer and has been working in consulting for over 20 years. A California native, she divides her time between the U.S. and Canada, currently residing in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her passions include travel, music, photography, social activism, and hoarding coffee mugs.

Sharon Latkovich Valente, Ph.D., is the Assistant Director of Curriculum Assessment and Evaluation, within the Master in Physician Assistant Studies Program at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University. She has taught across multiple disciplines and has extensive experience in assessment along with her background in quantitative and qualitative research projects in assessment and accreditation. But her most important title is as mother to Peter and Kevin, both of whom were adopted from Russia.

Romero Jalomo is the Vice President for Student Affairs at Hartnell College. He has served in this capacity for over nine years. Hartnell College is located in Salinas, California and serves approximately 14,000 students in the Salinas Valley.

Her real name is Laura, but she's better known as @thedivememe on social media. Since always, she has been fascinated by the underwater world. Already as a little girl, she started diving in the lakes and rivers of Switzerland, where she's from. Growing up, her passion for nature led to a degree in molecular biology, but her addiction to water never faded. During the pandemic, trying to bring a smile to her family despite the distance and the situation, she founded an Instagram page called '@thedivememe'. The jokes tackling the struggles of scuba divers' lives quickly arouse many more people's interest than expected. Now, after almost two years, she connected with several thousands of divers from all around the world.

"Don't live life in a vacuum."A graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, Ashley captained the tennis team her senior year and graduated with a B.A. in English in 1986. A college internship in Washington D.C. led to a position as a Trip Coordinator in the Office of Presidential Advance following graduation. At the close of the Reagan Administration, Ashley was offered a position at the Department of Housing and Urban Development working in Jack Kemp’s Office of Public Affairs. Ultimately, however, Ashley’s sense of family duty kicked in, and she returned home to California to work in the family’s fledgling wine business, marry and start a family.

Tara Goines grew up in Southern California, attending several different elementary schools because of being a foster child. She went on to complete her Bachelor's degree at CSUN majoring in Business Law. Reflecting on her positive influences in school, she decided to get her multiple subject teaching credential and taught grades TK-8 for the next several years in the Antelope Valley. Realizing she had knowledge and experiences to share with her peers, she became a district instructional coach for the Lancaster School District and supported the NGSS Shift, joining LACOE in their rollout. She also supported Math common Core instructional shifts and English Language Development structures and systems. More recently, Tara became an administrator for the Early Childhood Education program in Lancaster and works alongside her Director, Kelly Fountain and Coordinator, Linda Brown. Together they are preparing the way for UTK in their district.

"See challenges as an invitation to innovate." Adam Woods is moving into his 17th year of Science Engineering teaching at Segerstrom High School in Santa Ana, CA. Adam has spent the past 8 years developing and maintaining the first Aerospace Engineering Pathway in Orange County, which consists of 3 successive Engineering courses designed to better prepare underrepresented students for STEM majors at the college level. Adam’s passion for STEM education includes a deep commitment to leveling the playing field for young women pursuing Engineering or Computer Science. Adam has been a club advisor for “Girls Who Code”, “Sisters In Engineering”, and the Cal Poly Pomona “Femineer” program – all with the goal of closing the gender gap in technical professions. Looking into the future, Adam hopes to one day implement Environmental Engineering at his school site and create a synergetic Aerospace, Environmental Computer Science Academy.David Rhodes co-presented with Dr. Mark Ellis at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) annual Boston conference regarding detracking the 7th-grade mathematics classes at Lathrop. Their presentation is titled "We Must Stop Sorting Students": One Teacher's Experience with Detracking. David’s personal qualities of being reflective and collaborative make him a good team player and student advocate. Understanding that one can never stop learning, he seeks opportunities to improve his ability to teach and demonstrates a strong responsibility for the teaching profession by mentoring teachers, parents, and students to not only advocate for themselves but always be learning.

Nikole Lim is a speaker, educator, and consultant on leveraging dignity through the restorative art of storytelling. She is the founder and international director of Freely In Hope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping survivors and advocates to lead in ending sexual violence through their rewritten stories. If you’d like to check out their initiative and get involved, go tohttps://www.freelyinhope.org/hope-circle/ Here, you can become a hope circle member as a monthly donor to work towards anti-sexual violence.

Christianne is a 4th-grade teacher at Westmont Elementary, a VAPA school in Ocean View School District in Huntington Beach, California. After receiving her bachelor's degree in Theatre, and years of touring the world and living out of a suitcase, Christianne realized she needed to do something more and wanted to make a difference. So, she went back to school earning her teaching credential and Master of Education degree from Cal State, Fullerton, graduating in December of 2020. Student teaching both before and during a worldwide pandemic prepared Christianne for one of the most trying times in education as there have been many hurdles during her first year of teaching. Christianne truly believes her students are going to change the world.

The mission of the 306 Foundation is to help build healthy communities. That goal is realized through a program created in 2013 called Toolbox4Life. Offered in three trimesters, these holistic construction and culinary training programs are free of charge to students coming from domestic violence, human trafficking, addiction behaviors, mental health challenges, incarceration, and/or those without a permanent home. The model is entirely volunteer-based; the model brings together a wide continuum of demographics within the Central Florida community to grow and learn from one another.