Special Needs

Joshua Depoe, EdD, is the principal at Benton Elementary in the Neosho School District in Southwest Missouri. During his 17 years as an educator, he has also served as a classroom teacher and an assistant principal. His work has focused on ensuring all students achieve at high levels.

Hillary Woest is a presenter, staff developer, and practitioner with over 24 years of experience in public education. She specializes in supporting Professional Learning Communities at Work® and Response to Intervention at Work™ in schools by helping them assess, refine, and optimize current systems of support for special populations and challenging demographics.

Paula Maeker is an educator, consultant, and advocate for learner-centered education. She has more than twenty-three years’ experience as an elementary teacher, literacy specialist, instructional coach, Title 1 program coordinator, campus administrator, director of elementary literacy, and director of instructional design.

Sarah Kesty is an executive function and ADHD coach, author, and speaker. A former special educator, she empowers students, educators, and families with practical tools to build executive function skills through coaching, speaking, and The Executive Function Podcast.

Yazmin Pineda Zapata, EdD, is a program specialist and teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College in California. Her expertise in delivering special education services allows her to advocate for students in grades K–12 with varying learning differences.

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.

Kimberly Salomonson provides coordination and professional development for state and district work in continuous quality improvement efforts. She served seven years as the director of pupil personnel services with the Sanger Unified School District.

Dr. Amy Williams brings over 25 years of experience in education, specializing in fostering inclusive practices and systems-level change to improve student outcomes.

Kristen Bordonaro, EdD, has served as a school- and district-level administrator for the last 15 years. She’s worked with both private and public school districts as well as special education collaboratives. Dr. Bordonaro’s passion is in uniting school teams to support the needs of all students through an “all means all” model.

Jane Pedersen, EdD, is the assistant director of educational services at Kildeer Countryside School District 96 in Illinois. She has previously served District 96 as an elementary school assistant principal and a school psychologist.