Instructor Biography: Brian Shay earned his B.A. and M.A. in Mathematics from SUNY Potsdam and his M.A. T. and M.A. in Mathematics from UC Davis. He began teaching in 2000 and has been teaching AP Calculus AB and BC since 2003. He also teaches all levels of high school mathematics classes, as well as Calculus 3 and Linear Algebra. He has been teaching at Canyon Crest Academy in the San Dieguito Union High School District since 2004. 

Brian has been a reader for the AP Calculus exam since 2010, served as a Table Leader since 2018, and a Question Leader since 2021. In 2020 he became a member of the AP Calculus Test Development Committee. He presents at state, regional, and national conferences. He also has helped to write the Teacher’s Edition of an AP Calculus Textbook. He is an active member and leader of local, state, and national professional mathematics teachers associations. 

Brian has won numerous awards for his teaching and service, including the 2019 Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, 2012 George Polya Memorial Award, 2020 Edyth May Sliffe Award, and 2009 Teacher of the Year for his school district. In 2008 he was also awarded a Fulbright-Hays Scholarship to study the schools and culture of India. He loves to travel, is an avid foodie, father of an adorable Great Dane, and husband.

Instructor Biography: Karen Sleno has been spreading her love of calculus (and all math) with her students as well as teachers around the world since 1994. She received her B.S. in Mathematics Education degree from Saginaw Valley State University and her M.A. in Mathematics from Oakland University. With experience in both parochial and public high schools, she has taught at Flushing (MI) High School for the past 30 years, covering all math subjects from Algebra I through AP Calculus AB and BC. In addition, she serves as the department chair, a role she has fulfilled for the past 26 years. In her free time (!), she is also an adjunct instructor at Mott Community College and at the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University. Her experience with AP Calculus AB and BC led her to be a participant at the AP reading for the past 18 years, first as a reader, later in the roles of table leader and then question leader, and most recently as an exam leader. Karen has served as a consultant (for 9 years) and as an AP Mentor for both AP Calculus and AP Precalculus and was part of the review team for the transition of Khan Academy to be a College Board-approved AP Calculus review site. More recently, she has been serving on the AP Calculus Development Committee as well as the Annual AP Conference Steering Committee. Additionally, she is currently working with the Calc Medic team to construct lessons for BC Calculus and activities for AP Precalculus. Her efforts in education and in the AP program earned her recognition as Educator of the Year for her district in 2015, as a Michigan Regional Teacher of the Year in 2022, and as a PAEMST state finalist in 2023.

Instructor Biography: Chasen Smith (he/him/his) is a Senior Lecturer of Mathematics at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA, where he has taught for the past 12 years. He teaches mathematics core courses, including Calculus I, II, and III, as well as mathematics content courses for pre-service elementary and middle grades teachers. At Georgia Southern, he has served as the coordinator of the Eagle UndergraduateMathematicsConferenceandtheannualinvitationalGeorgiaSouthernMathematics Tournament, which hosts approximately 800 middle school and high school students each year. Chasen recently completed his second three-year term on the national Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Committee on Undergraduate Student Programming, where he co-organized the Undergraduate Student Poster Sessions at the Joint Mathematics Meetings and the Undergraduate Student Paper Sessions at MAA MathFest from 2016 to 2022. Chasen has been an AP Calculus Reader for the College Board since 2016, reading both the operational and international exams. Starting in 2022, he became a College Board-endorsed AP Workshop Consultant and has led nine AP Summer Institutes for AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, and AP Precalculus. Chasen is a member of the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Georgia Association of AP Math Teachers, and the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators.

Instructor Biography: Penny Smeltzer began teaching AP Statistics when the course began and quickly created one of the largest programs in the nation in Austin, Texas. Her recognition includes Presidential Award Finalist, O’Donnell AP Teacher of the Year, Intel Teacher of Merit, Texas Exes Outstanding Teacher, the national winner of the Siemen’s Teacher Award, and Toyota International Teacher Award. Her passion for AP Statistics continues with years of experience as an AP Statistics exam grader, grading leader, rubric writer, Test Development Committee member, and currently Question Leader. Her passion is creating meaningful interdisciplinary lessons with science using topics that matter in the lives of the human population and the planet. Penny presents lively, interactive workshops to teachers in AP Statistics and creates integrated sessions with Lessons That Matter. On a good day, Penny has her camera, a notepad, and a ridiculous amount of curiosity as she explores the world for new interesting lessons…most recently in Uganda trekking gorillas and Australia looking for kangaroos.

Instructor Biography: Jill Westerlund is an instructor of computer science (CS) at the University of Alabama (UA) where she teaches courses for undergraduate CS students and undergraduate and graduate pre-service education majors seeking a CS certificate endorsement. Jill’s work at UA also includes supporting teachers and students through funded grant projects focused on broadening access to K-12 CS education.

In 2017, Jill was selected as Alabama’s Aspirations in Computing Educator of the Year by the National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT). She served in reading leadership and as a reader for CS Principles as well as on the College Board’s Development Committee for AP® CSP from 2018 - 2023. Currently, Jill serves as the lead consultant for the College Board’s Computer Science A course, as a syllabus reviewer for AP® CSA and AP® CSP, and as a workshop consultant for AP® Computer Science Principles and AP® Computer Science A. During 2023, Jill served on the College Board’s AP® Educator Advisory Committee on Generative AI.  

An avid knitter and quilt maker, Jill lives in Homewood, Alabama, with her husband, Eric, and their basset hound, Louie.