Speakers

normaNorma Arroyo

Mathematics Educator, ESOL | Gwinnett County Public Schools

Norma Arroyo is a middle school mathematics educator in Gwinnett County. Ms. Arroyo takes great pride in helping her students maximize their full potential through rigorous and engaging learning each and every day. With high expectations and a student-centered approach to instruction, Ms. Arroyo pushes her Level 1 and Level 2 EL students to achieve consistently topping the school’s performance in mathematics. Ms. Arroyo was recently recognized as The Promise of Gwinnett, a district-level recognition for students and staff who demonstrate a passionate belief in the potential of all students.

 

Carlo BidwellDr. Carla Bidwell

Mathematics Specialist | Metro Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA)

Dr. Carla Bidwell has been an educator for 18 years, beginning her career as a high school mathematics teacher and later serving as a secondary mathematics instructional coach. Dr. Bidwell’s passion lies in understanding the roles racism and bias play in maintaining inequitable schooling experiences for marginalized youth. Her prior research examined the lived experiences of successful white teachers of African American students in hopes to better understand ways in which these teachers navigated the racial dynamics at play in their classrooms. Dr. Bidwell currently works as a secondary mathematics specialist with Metro RESA and continually strives to make schools more inclusive of all students.

 

feliciaFelicia Cullars

STEM/STEAM Specialist | Georgia Department of Education

Felicia Cullars serves as the Georgia Department of Education’s STEM Coordinator, where she has advocated for STEM/STEAM education throughout Georgia. Cullars has been an educator for over 15 years and has worked with Georgia CTAE to promote students in nontraditional careers.

 

Marian DingleMarian Dingle

Mathematics Education | Dekalb County Public Schools

Marian Dingle has been an elementary educator for twenty-two years, most passionate about the intersections of mathematics and social justice.  She is active in school leadership, serves on state and district math advisory groups, is a member of the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics (GCTM) Board, and serves on several National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) committees. As a Heinemann Fellow, she currently researches the connections between positive cultural identity and student self-efficacy and cognition. She is a frequent speaker at state and national conferences, has been featured on podcasts, and has been published in NCTM’s Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12. She is a member of the Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board, blogs at www.mariandingle.com and tweets at @DingleTeach.

 

Maria EchavesteMaria Echaveste

President/CEO | Opportunity Institute

Maria Echaveste is the President and CEO of the Opportunity Institute, where she oversees executive and administrative duties, including day- to-day activities, development, and budgets, and directs programmatic work. She has built a distinguished career working as a consultant, lecturer, senior White House official, long-time community leader, and corporate attorney. Currently, Echaveste serves on the board of directors of UCSF-Benioff Oakland Children’s Hospital, Mi Familia Vota, and Level Playing Field Institute.

 

dougDouglas Edwards

Research Associate II | CEISMC, Georgia Institute of Technology

Douglas Edwards is a former electrical engineer with the US Air Force and Associate Professor of Information Technology that instructed computer networking, IT project management, and computer programming. He has also instructed high school mathematics, engineering, and computer science. Doug has developed K-12 science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) and STEM curriculum and implemented online and face-to-face teacher professional learning. His current work is on computer science STEAM curriculum and professional development.

 

Maya IsraelDr. Maya Israel

Associate Professor, School of Teaching and Learning | University of Florida

Maya Israel, Ph.D. is an associate professor of Educational Technology in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. She is also the research director at the Creative Technology Research Lab. Dr. Israel’s research focuses on strategies for supporting students with disabilities and other struggling learners’ meaningful engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with emphases on computational thinking, computer science education, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). She is currently PI on two NSF projects focused on pedagogical approaches that support all students in successfully accessing computing instruction. Her work is interdisciplinary and involves collaboration with researchers, teachers, and other school leaders.

 

anthony johnsonAnthony Johnson

Personalized Learning Advocate | Kennesaw State Student

Anthony Johnson is a student, public speaker, executive producer, innovator, and advocate for personalized blended learning.

As a student at a personalized blended school in a Metro school district, Anthony flexed his schedule to pursue many educational ventures.  He is the creator and executive producer of IA Weekly, he travels to present Personalized Learning, Project-Based Learning, & Twitter for Education all from a student’s perspective and also produces documentaries for the educational community.

 

Pamela SedaDr. Pamela Seda

Mathematics Curriculum Coordinator | Griffin Spalding County School System

Dr. Pamela Seda has been an educator for over 30 years.  She received a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Education at the University of South Florida.  After completing her Master’s degree, Dr. Seda also completed her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education at Georgia State University.  Her dissertation, Equity Pedagogy in the Secondary Mathematics Classrooms of Three Preservice Teachers, continues to provide an instructional framework for increasing the mathematics achievement of underrepresented groups. 

Dr. Seda is passionate about providing positive mathematical experiences for students who have not previously experienced mathematical success.  For her, “success” is not simply passing a class, but rather being able to use mathematics as a tool to reason, analyze, communicate, and open doors of opportunity.  For this reason, Dr. Seda continually seeks to help students of color experience mathematics the way she did—as something positive and empowering.

 

Lya SnellDr. Lya Snell

Mathematics Program Manager | Georgia Department of Education

Dr. Lya Snell serves as the Georgia Department of Education’s Mathematics Program Manager, where she works to promote equity and access to high-quality mathematics programming throughout Georgia.  This includes a focus on making mathematics relevant for students through STEM/STEAM education. Dr. Snell has served in multiple leadership and teaching capacities advocating for equity in mathematics education.  She has participated in numerous outreach activities in a variety of settings and serves on a number of boards involving K-12 Mathematics, as well as STEM-STEAM education.