Authors & Presenters

Kim Nichols, EdD, is former assistant superintendent in Ringgold, Georgia. Under her leadership, Catoosa County Schools was named the first Model PLC District in Georgia and twelve schools have become Model PLCs.

Robert Payne is a recently retired educator, having served as principal and superintendent for elementary, middle, and high schools. He has presented to schools and administrator groups on transforming schools into professional learning communities.

Richard L. Pease has more than 30 years of experience as an education leader, serving as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, university professor, middle and high school principal, principal mentor, and district leader.

Barbara Phillips is an educational presenter and researcher from upstate New York with over 20 years of experience in public education. She specializes in effective instruction and leveraging teacher strengths to maximize student achievement and learning.

Joshua Ray, EdD, is principal at Greenwood High School in Arkansas. He has served as an administrator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels and is a passionate advocate for adult learning and educator well-being.

Kyle is the principal of Powell Middle School in Powell, Wyoming. Prior to administration, he was an elementary teacher where he developed the passion for professional learning communities and the power behind building a strong culture and teamwork in a school.

Bo Ryan is principal of the Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Elementary Magnet School in Bloomfield, Connecticut. He is passionate about building and sustaining professional learning communities (PLCs) and has led two different schools to Model PLC at Work® certification.

Faith Short is the principal at East Pointe Elementary. With 25 years of experience in education, she is fiercely passionate about the work of collaborative teams as a vehicle to ensure high levels of learning for every student. She specializes in helping leaders and teachers implement the PLC process to impact teaching and learning.

Claire Springer is a partner in education specializing in master scheduling at the elementary level, creating school systems to support the professional learning community process, and implementing data protocols to monitor high levels of learning for all. She has 13 years of experience in education, eight of those years in school leadership.

Rusty Taylor has been a professional educator since 1997, serving as a science teacher, middle school assistant principal, and principal at both the middle and high school levels.