Authors & Presenters

Casey R. Ahner has more than 22 years’ experience in education. He has served as a special education teacher, counselor, assistant principal, and principal at the intermediate and elementary levels.

Dr. Angelou currently serves the community in Wittmann, Arizona, as superintendent and the community of Morristown, Arizona, as superintendent. Dr. Angelou was named Oklahoma High School Principal of the Year in 2017 for the academic gains made by her students during her tenure in Oklahoma City.

Jane Ardell is currently the director of STEM, college and career readiness, and induction and retention at the Cartwright School District in Phoenix, Arizona. She works with teachers and administrators on planning, assessment, and intervention.

Toby Arritola is the principal at Mountain Vista Elementary School in Aurora, Colorado. With more than 20 years of experience as an educator, Toby specializes in and advocates for developing PLCs and a healthy school culture.

Brooks Baca is the principal of Bowman Middle School in Texas, where he has spent the last five years working with his staff to build a culture of collective responsibility that leads to improved student outcomes through the PLC process.

Kim Bailey is former director of professional development and instructional support for the Capistrano Unified School District in California. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at Chapman University in California.

Dr. Anisa Baker-Busby served as the principal of Lindsey Elementary since February 2016 and was appointed principal of Shirley Hills Elementary in July 2022. She has over twenty years of educational experiences serving as an elementary teacher and administrator. Her passion is to help schools build systems of support for collaborative teams that will ensure high levels of learning for all students.

Jack Baldermann has been a passionate educational leader for over 30 years. His experience includes leading several high-poverty urban schools to significant success and supporting eight different priority or high-poverty schools to become Model PLC at Work® schools.

Debora Bamforth, an educational speaker, has more than 40 years of experience in education. She served as principal of the D. J. Bakie School in New Hampshire and also worked in the Timberlane District, where she designed and implemented an enrichment program for a school of nearly 1,200 students before assuming the administrative role of curriculum coordinator.

Mandy Barrett, EdD, currently serves as an elementary school principal in northwest Arkansas. She has over 20 years of experience working in high-poverty schools and schools with large ESL populations.