Authors & Presenters

Deborah Ricker is principal of Glenwood Ridge Elementary School in Basehor, Kansas. Prior to going into administration, she spent 19 years as a school psychologist in the Kansas City area.

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.

Dr. Spiller is executive director of Title IX Compliance and Investigations, a new division in Richardson ISD that he has been appointed to onboard. Previously he served for eight years as the Lake Highlands Learning Community executive director in Richardson ISD, a district with more than 10,500 preK–12 students. Darwin has served as classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal, and school support officer.

Kathy Vergara, EdD, is an experienced educator dedicated to serving and improving educational outcomes for multilingual learners and their families. She focuses on designing and implementing curriculum for bilingual, dual language, and ESL programs in grades preK–12.

Jon Yost is the recently retired associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Sanger Unified School District in California. He has worked in public education at the elementary, secondary, and district levels.