Diversity & Equity

Jackie Palmquist is a national presenter and educational consultant with over 30 years of high school classroom mathematics teaching and leading experience. Her leadership emphasizes and supports collaborative planning and current research-informed best instructional practices.

This impactful webinar, led by education coach Jorge Valenzuela, empowers participants with diverse high-yielding strategies to guide students in discovering and pursuing their passions and interests for academic and life success. In addition to exploring methods for increasing student engagement and developing life skills throughout the curriculum, the webinar goes further by uplifting tools to improve empathy towards others, enhance decision-making abilities, and effectively regulate difficult emotions. Moreover, the session will address valuable techniques for teachers to bolster their own life skills. Join us to unlock a comprehensive toolkit for fostering holistic growth in students and educators alike.

Charity Marcella Moran is a former high school project-based learning teacher, New Tech Network school development coach, and a middle school alternative programs instructional specialist. Charity’s focus areas include strategic program development, culturally responsive teaching, educating and empowering Black males, STEM, 21st century skills, project-based learning, literacy, language, and equity.

Margaret Lane Dunne, EdD, has over 20 years of teaching experience and is a faculty member at Great Neck South High School. She is also an author and a presenter who enthusiastically shares her insights about better ways to engage students.

Steve Van Bockern is a professor of education at Augustana University in South Dakota. Formerly a teacher and principal, his research interests include resiliency, alternative education, restorative justice, bullying, discipline, and creating well-being.

Dr. Kapono Ciotti has worked internationally in educational change organizations and has trained teachers in over 100 schools and districts across four continents, impacting hundreds of thousands of students.

Kimberly Cullen is an education professional who has held a variety of teaching and leadership positions in an international school based in Madrid, Spain. She has also served international and independent K–12 schools as a coach.

Students do not put up walls to avoid relationships, but to see who cares enough to break the walls down. Research shows that building relationships with students increases engagement, motivation, test scores, and grade point averages while decreasing absenteeism, dropout rates, and discipline issues.

Shawn W. McCusker has 25 years of experience as a teacher and leader and is currently the director of professional learning at Digital Promise, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the digital learning gap.

Yetunde Reeves, EdD, is principal of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Baltimore. She is committed to social justice education, and her passion is working with students of color and supporting first-generation college students.