Advisory Board
I am a veteran teacher and was fortunate to attend Strategies for Student Success in 2014. The strategies that I learned have helped me to become a better teacher for my students. This training was the most participant engaged, research based, and relevant strategies that I could bring back to my classroom.
Deanna began working with the research on classroom management over twenty years ago, first with AFT’s Foundation I trainings. That early training included the foundational research on classroom management: Group Management, Teacher Praise, Time on Task, Beginning of the Year Classroom Management, and Direct Instruction. She became an AFT National Trainer in 1986. In just a few years, researchers’ further studies after those original topics discovered clear connections between the academic and the affective – in short, the whole child. AFT tapped Deanna to develop a training module on the Social Context of the classroom, as others worked to develop modules on Teacher Expectations, Cooperative Small Groups, and Cognitive Apprenticeships, all of which became Foundations II, which she and others taught both at Summer Institutes in trainer-of-trainer institutes and in locals around the nation.
Deanna has presented classroom management research at AFT QuEST and TEACH, as well as Pre-QuEST and pre-convention ER&D conferences. She has also conducted training in Moscow, Russia, and Palestine. Because of her ER&D experience and knowledge of research, she served as an AFT teacher representative on the Advisory Committee to the New American Schools Development Corporation, which had oversight on school improvement models, involving on-site visits and follow-up reports referenced to research. Her experience with research led to her work with the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, where she was co-coordinator and module developer of a national research-based school improvement process model, Onward to Excellence II. She holds a membership in the American Educational Research Association and has participated in Special Interest Groups in order to keep abreast of research.
When Dr. LaRocque developed the Strategies for Student Success (SSS) in 2007, Deanna was one of the trainers she tapped to participate in module development and training. She is one of AFT’s SSS trainers of trainers.
My name is Jerelle Hendon and I currently serve as the Curriculum Resource Specialist/Science Teacher for Wenonah High School. I’ve worked in education nine years and assisted in areas such as Technology, Title-1, Parental Involvement and Budgeting & Planning. I joined SSS in the Summer of 2012. I’ve been fortunate to be a featured SSS Presenter for many conferences to include the ALAPCAE Adult Education Conference.
Justin Overacker is a high school English and speech teacher at Wossman High School in Monroe, Louisiana. A gregarious constructivist eight-year educator, he relies on students to build meaning in their study of Shakespeare, Dickinson, Beyoncé, Tupac, and Kendrick Lamar. Relying on the research of Gallagher and Kittle, Mr. Overacker implements a workshop style where students choose texts that they want to read; therefore, students foster a deep and lasting love of reading whilst synthesizing captivating new ways to view literature. AFT's Strategies for Student Success helped Mr. Overacker prefabricate and "connect the dots" from his extensive research in adolescent psychology and reading instruction. Mista O encourages every member to catch our collective breathe and let us take in deeply the source of encouragement, knowledge, and grace that is AFT's SSS program and let it be an acquiescent source to all of those who wait in a world full of possibilities, brimming with magnanimity and hope.
National Board Certified Teacher with 30 years experience as an educator in Miami Dade County Public Schools. She has been a member of the AFT Strategies for Student Success team since 2008. Strategies for Student Success is the most powerful professional development opportunity I have experienced during my teaching career. I am proud to be a vehicle in sharing these rigorous research-based modules. This program has a difference by reaching into classrooms across the country and providing a positive impact directly to our students!
Matthew Burns (Northern New Jersey) has been a SSS trainer since 2013. He is a high school Social Studies Educator and AFT local building representative. He has been successfully transforming his classroom into a tech-driven student led journey through American History. Beyond his classroom, he been an active member of several teacher teams for his district with the goal of achieving higher levels of student success and teacher development. Along with Nicole Telep, he has designed a weekly professional development program for his district centered around the Strategies for Student Success Series of AFT Professional Development.
As far as the push back, we have a pretty inept technology department that has been very lax in their professional development with regards to technology. We decided, along with another trainer in a different AFT program, started doing these PDs as a huge chunk of teachers were being penalized on evaluations. We have a meeting with our local president, curriculum supervisor/decision maker for pd in our district, and head of the technology department next week to discuss us doing tech training.
Nicole Telep (Northern New Jersey) has been a SSS trainer since 2013. She is a high school English/Language Arts teacher that strives to bring American literature to life for her students within the classroom. She takes joy in creating new hands-on activities and incorporating instructional strategies that encourage a dynamic student-centered learning environment. In order to engage all learning styles, she aims to provide a stimulating, challenging, and healthy learning environment, which allows the students to become active participants in their overall learning experience. Along with Matthew Burns, she has designed a weekly professional development program for her district centered around the Strategies for Student Success Series of AFT Professional Development.
I'm Susie Chow, NBCT, and I began working with SSS in 2013. Since then, I organize professional development SSS sessions at United Teachers Los Angeles for UTLA members, charter school teachers and teachers in the Los Angeles region. I also work with educators on educational topics, such as, teacher evaluation and National Board Certification. I'm a former Commissioner for the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges and still continue to evaluate educational programs.
SSS classes are like short bursts of sunshine, growing our professional skills!
Tanya Cornell has been a national representative with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) since March 2014. She began her organizing career as a community organizer with a faith based, non-profit organization, Working Interfaith Network, a PICO (People Improving Communities through Organizing) affiliate. Tanya continued her work as an organizer and lead organizer with an AFT project in Louisiana working with K-12 employees to charter local unions. Her most recent experiences have allowed her to continue organizing in the right to work states of Louisiana and Mississippi.
Tammy Jackson has a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and a MBA in Human Resource Management. Tammy has been in education for over twenty years. She currently serves in her AFT local as an AFT E-board member where she currently holds the office of 1st Vice President. Tammy is also a AFT National Trainer. It is her current desire to continue to educate the students that she comes in contact with. It is also her passion to continue to offer phenomenal educators that she comes in contact with research-based materials to help them continue educating students.
Tina L. Steele is a Professional Teacher Coach and Educational Consultant with over 18 years of experience in teaching, coaching and training. Tina has been a part of AFT'S SSS for over 5 years and has seen the positive impact the trainings have had in improving instruction, professional practice and student experiences. Tina believes that SSS trainings are invaluable in the continued growth and progress of education.
I joined SSS while working as an Instructional Coach, for Mathematics and Science teachers and the STEM Liaison for local Universities and the LSU Medical Center. I have retired from Education with over 25 years in the Educational Arena and continue tutoring students in all areas of mathematics as well ACT preparation through my company Favorite Educational Consultants, LLC. Being a part of the SSS Team has uniquely combined my all my personal and educational endeavors by preparing us to continually provide professional development sessions for all Educators from early childhood to young adult learners.
AFT National Representative Jesse Zeigler began his union work as a member and officer at Graduate Assistants United at the University of Florida. Since coming to work for AFT as an organizer in 2006, Jesse has worked on organizing and advocacy campaigns in higher ed and K-12 in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and FL. As a lead organizer and campaign director, he helped to build the Strategies for Student Success program into a cornerstone of AFT’s efforts to organize and support charter school employees in Philadelphia. His current assignment in Pinellas County, Florida is mobilizing local and national affiliate resources to support struggling “turnaround” schools in St. Petersburg. He’s helped to develop a partnership between the District, community stakeholders, the local union, and AFT Ed Issues to implement proven school improvement and instructional support strategies, including SSS offerings and train-the-trainer programs. In addition to working to organize and empower educators, the union is helping lead the effort to provide high-quality PD and targeted supports to help teachers, staff, and students succeed. Jesse sees the SSS program as a highly valuable tool in a variety of campaign settings to support new organizing, strengthen the union’s role as a driver of educational quality, and strengthen labor-management collaboration.