Meet Our Presenters

Coretta Abrams

Coretta Abrams is a native of Chicago, Illinois. She relocated her family to Austin so her sons could have a better and safer childhood. Her son Aamari goes to LASA High School, while her youngest son Makari will be starting his first year at Marshall Junior High in the Fall. After experiencing a devastating hardship, Coretta started volunteering with Parent Support Specialist Alicia Sanchez at Barbara Jordan Elementary. Through Ms. Sanchez's influence at Barbara Jordan, Coretta was motivated to become a Parent Champion with Families as Partners. This opportunity has been very rewarding for her because she met and now works with like-minded parents and staff that understand "It takes a village."

Adrienne Aldaco

Dr. Aldaco has a passion for learning, teaching, and people.  In 2004, she began teaching Language Arts at Kealing Middle School in Austin ISD. In 2010, Dr. Aldaco joined ESC Region 13 where she provided resources, support, and professional development to district/campus leaders receiving a school improvement grant and led the design and implementation of large-scale conferences. In 2017, she proudly rejoined Austin ISD and is currently the Director of Diversity, Engagement, and Inclusiveness for Human Capital. Her team collaborates with internal/external partners to eliminate Human Capital systemic disparities to achieve equitable outcomes for all.  Dr. Aldaco also has a passion for connection, belonging, and joy in the workplace and works collaboratively with the AISD Human Capital team and AISD colleagues to cultivate this work.  

Lindsie O'Neill Almquist

Dr. Lindsie O’Neill Almquist has served in public education for 15 years in the central Texas area as an Educator, Assistant Principal, Elementary, Middle, & High School Principal, Director & Executive Director. She currently is the Executive Director of School Leadership & Campus Support for Secondary in Austin ISD serving over 14,000 students and 12 principals. She is an Adjunct Professor at Huston-Tillotson University and serves on the Advisory Board for Hartwell University. She’s a  co-author of “The Impact of Influence Volume 5!” She attended Texas A&M & Texas State and then the UT Cooperative Superintendency Program (CSP) where she graduated with her Doctorate in Educational Leadership & Policy within two years. She was the Region 13 Texas Association of Secondary School Principals (TASSP) Principal of the Year in 2018. She’s an alumni and served as a Regional Director for Raise Your Hand Texas (RYHT)/Charles Butt Foundation. She serves on the scholarship committees for RYHT & Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (HLSR). She is the Captain of Professional Networking & Development with HLSR’s Scholarship Alumni Advisory Council. She is a proud mentor to Charles Butt Foundation & HLSR Scholars and Concordia Masters and Doctoral students. She is the proud inaugural President of The Council of Women School Executives (TCWSE) in Region 13. She’s served TASSP as a Board Member and on the TASSP Senate Youth Scholarship Selection Committee & Instructional Leadership Committee. Dr. Almquist loves spending time with her family and traveling. Carpe Diem. Follow her on Twitter @servingkids to connect. 

Sasha Blake

Sasha Blake is an educational leader with almost 20 years of experience in education. Currently, she is the climate and culture specialist for the Harris County Department of Education where she supports systems that foster mental health, social emotional learning, and restorative practices.  As a successful educator, she has worked in both secondary and higher education as a teacher, director, dean, athletic director, and assistant principal.  She has presented across many platforms on various topics (Emotional Backpack, Dynamic Mindfulness, Trauma Informed Practices, and Leading with SEL in mind). Dr. Blake received her B.A. from Fairfield University, her MA from Boston College, and her doctorate from Northeastern University, where she studied how trauma-informed practices affect teacher self-efficacy in understanding student behavior.

Katie Brown

Katie Brown has been teaching for over 30 years in the Austin Independent School District, most of those years in 2nd grade.  She spent her first eight years teaching at Reilly Elementary in north Austin, and the past 23 years have been at Cowan Elementary in southwest Austin. She earned her Master's Degree in Elementary Education in 1998, as well as her National Board Certification in 2003 and 2013. Mrs. Brown enjoys working with student teacher programs from across central Texas and with new teachers hired in AISD each year. She has led Teacher Induction Program (TIP) cohorts for the past 20 years working with our district’s newly hired 2nd grade teachers. She has completed the SEL Leadership Pathways program in 2020 and currently serves as an ambassador with the 2022-2023 Pathways cohort. Katie loves teaching young learners and has a special passion for leading her students’ social and emotional growth.

Danielle Bryant

Danielle has spent the entirety of her career in education. She is a fourth-generation Arizona native and relocated to Texas to begin her teaching career. She spent her first-year teaching third grade in Dallas ISD and moved to Austin ISD where she taught fifth grade, worked as a community school facilitator, and was most recently an elementary assistant principal. Following her first year in Austin, she began her Master’s in Educational Leadership and continued on to doctoral work at the university where she is currently working on her dissertation. On campus, she co-facilitated one of the largest No Place for Hate coalitions in Austin and led countless professional development sessions focused on relationship development, culturally proficient teaching practices, and identifying bias.  

Fred Bryant

Fred is a life-long educator born and raised in Houston, TX. A graduate of THE University of Houston with a Bachelor's Degree in Education and Lamar University with a Master's Degree in Educational Administration. Fred's years of service includes classroom teacher, ESL department head, Assistant Principal, School director, Instructional Coach and Restorative Discipline leader.  Fred's passion is mentoring youth to help prepare them for the world ahead.

Randy Bryant

Randy Bryant knows that successful students become successful adults. This is his 19th year in education and 9th year here in the Austin Texas area. Teaching high school and motivating the youth has been his passion! Mr. Bryant was a Golden Apple Nominee 4 years straight in Chicago Public Schools before moving to Texas with his family.  Since moving to Texas, he has been involved with many school initiatives in Austin ISD as well Leander ISD. He loves technology and majored in computer science and earned his graduate degree in secondary education. 

Meghan Buchanan

Meghan Buchanan is an instructional leader with over 16 years of experience, 13 of which were spent teaching middle and high school choir and student leadership. She currently supports school improvement planning in Austin ISD as an Administrative Supervisor of Accountability and Performance Reporting. Prior to her work in Campus and District Accountability, she worked with the Office of School Leadership as an Academic Leadership Specialist and before that she was a member of the Technology Design Team. She is a fierce advocate for public education and is committed to disrupting the predictability of success and failure by race or other human difference. Meghan earned her principal certificate in 2018 and is currently entering her third year in the Texas State PhD Program for School Improvement. She currently serves on the E3 Alliance Blueprint Leadership Council and is a member of the Research Development Program through University Council for Education Administration (UCEA). She is a published educational researcher who actively presents at conferences and events. Meghan currently resides in North Austin with her partner, Emily, and two children, Emmett and Wesley. 

Christina Burbank

Christina Burbank Shelton (she/her) is the Special Projects Coordinator in the Department of Communication and Community Engagement for the Austin Independent School District. Burbank has worked in education for 21 years, including 18 years as a high school theatre director. Her passion for educational theatre led to her shift into district level event planning. Burbank earned her principal certification in 2019 and has made both inclusion and fine arts a part of her professional 'why?'. She spends her free time actively involved in the theatre community as a director and actor at the historic Bastrop Opera House, and as a TTAO Adjudicator for the Texas UIL One Act Play Contest.

Liz Close

Liz Close taught Secondary Social Studies in Austin ISD for eight years and is currently serving as an Academic Coaching Specialist in the Humanities. During her years in the classroom, Liz was  part of her campus SEL Leadership team and received training in restorative practices and community circles. In addition, she helped facilitate a program that trained high schoolers to facilitate circles for their peers. Over the years, Liz has developed a sharp focus on anti-racist teaching, culturally proficient pedagogy, and creating transformative culturally relevant curriculum. Her proudest achievement has been in creating, teaching, and promoting the Ethnic Studies program for Austin ISD. This work has been presented to district supervisors from across the state of Texas, as well as at the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University.

Crystal Contreras

Crystal Contreras has been a teacher for 15 years. In 2007, she began teaching English 1 & 2 at American Youthworks here in Austin, TX. She realized there that she wanted to help her struggling bilingual students BEFORE they ended up in high school with little to no resources for them. She decided to get alternatively certified and found her home in AISD in 2011 as a bilingual 4th-grade teacher. In 2017, she moved down to teach 3rd grade and continued on that path until 2021. In 2021, she started the CALT program with the Dyslexia Center of Austin and became the Dyslexia Interventionist at Becker Elementary. During the program, she realized that she was having more trouble than normal staying focused. The science of reading required nuanced learning that seemed too hard for her. She began to think of all her triggers because as a teacher, she knew EVERYONE could learn, so she wanted to understand what was stopping her. She listed down all her problems and realized that she maybe had ADHD. She went in for testing and was diagnosed in 2022. After some deep dives into so many research articles, videos, TED Talks, etc she realized that the signs were always there but never caught because she always did pretty well in school. In this new role, she is able to apply all her new learning and make informed decisions that help her be a much more effective teacher to her students. 

Carlen Floyd

Carlen Floyd is the Museum Educator for School Programs at the Blanton Museum of Art. An award-winning educator, she was a classroom teacher for 26 years at Bowie High School in AISD where she taught US Government, US History, Ethnic Studies, AP Comparative Government, AVID and English. She was the recipient of the Texas’ Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award in 2021 and was honored as campus Teacher of the Year and a district semi-finalist in 2012. She is passionate about life-long learning and believes in the power of art to deepen human interaction and connections for both children and adults. Carlen holds a B.A. in Journalism and a M.A. in Humanities from Louisiana State University.

Theresa Burke Garcia

Theresa has over 20 years of teaching and educational consulting experience in the public and private sector. She has a rising freshman and senior in AISD which reinforces a commitment to elevating practices and processes that promote an equity-centered climate and culture for students, family and staff in educational spaces and beyond.  She currently works in AISD as a specialist in Social and Emotional Learning and Cultural Proficiency & Inclusiveness. 

Jaime Bell Garrison

Jaime currently serves as a Supervisor of Leadership Development & Support in Austin ISD. She has dedicated the last 15 years of her career to serving the students & communities as a public educator. Focusing specifically on the middle school grades, Jaime has worked as both a teacher & campus administrator in Florida & Texas. Currently, she is working in Austin ISD as part of the Leadership Development team providing coaching, resources, & learning opportunities for current & aspiring leaders. Her primary driver as an educator is to provide space & opportunities for students to feel empowered to use their voices to make changes in their classrooms, schools, districts, & beyond. 

Dan Gratz

Dan Gratz has spent his career in both traditional and non-traditional education settings: from residential treatment, counseling, and autism specialist to college professor, academic advisor, and Division 1 coach. Each of those positions offered unique experience and lessons that are being brought into the K-12 classroom.

Kayren Gray

Kayren Gray is the Coordinator for Diversity, Engagement, and Inclusiveness (DEI) for Human Capital at Austin ISD. She brings her experience, not only as a student and parent, but has embarked on her educational leadership journey as a social studies teacher, administrator, author, and advocate to ensure the voices of the underrepresented and marginalized are seen, valued, and heard. Kayren’s work centers on eliminating systemic disparities to achieve equitable outcomes for all. She believes in the value of community and connection to foster a culture of inclusion – by building bridges and breaking barriers.  

Joy Hall

Joy Hall is an experienced and dedicated educator focused on supporting the holistic development of students to enable them to reach their full potential. Joy is certified to teach kindergarten through eighth-grade general education and English as a Second Language. She began as a prekindergarten teaching assistant and has gone on to teach kindergarten, second, third, and fourth grade. Joy served as an AmeriCorps English literacy tutor and team leader wherein she taught kindergarten through second-grade students core phonics skills, letter recognition, reading fluency, and accuracy. She has partnered with the Andy Roddick Foundation as a mentor, summer camp instructor, and after-school enrichment instructor. Joy has been awarded Teacher of Promise and became a candidate for Teacher of the Year at her campus due to the significant increase in her students' STAAR scores and the connections she’s made with her school community. Joy Hall witnessed firsthand the difficulties students had accessing the online curriculum and connecting with their teachers. This barrier resulted in students disassociating from classes completely. Student achievement decreased and parents became more concerned after seeing their children struggle to master foundational skills. To fully support the students in her classroom, Joy decided to create a platform that would provide opportunities for social and academic learning that would assist students outside the traditional classroom. Joy would like to share her success with her colleagues at Austin Independent School District.

Mara Hall

Mara Hall is a rising junior at Anderson High school. She spends her time spinning in the AHS color guard along with participating in Student Equity Council at both the high school and district level. As a freshmen, she took the Ethnic studies class, and she loved it so much that it prompted her to get involved further in the goal of equity within our local community. She is excited to see where SEC takes her. 

Jes Holloway

Jes Holloway is a Jewelry, Printmaking, and Art 1 teacher at Austin High School. She received a BA in Japanese Studies from SUNY Albany in 2008 and a BFA in Art with a minor in secondary education from Sam Houston State University in 2021. In between, she pursued a number of careers including managing operations at a bath bomb factory before landing in education. Her focus as a teacher is to provide students a safe place to explore their creativity and personal expression while equipping them with practical skills they need to thrive "in the real world." 

Jeannine Ivey

Jeannine Ivey has been an educator for over a decade, and worked in Austin ISD for the last eight years. Jeannine received a Master's degree in Special Education from the University of Texas in Austin and has been working with students at the elementary level throughout her career. She is a certified yoga instructor and sound healer and teaches private and public classes in the Austin area. Jeannine is passionate about incorporating social emotional learning strategies in the classroom, and has a wealth of knowledge and expertise about behavior management. Jeannine is currently a teacher at Kocurek Elementary as a Special Education Resource Teacher and has two daughters that attend school in Austin ISD.    

Anika Jones

Creativity. Analysis. Communication. These are the personal and professional pillars that Anika S. Jones strives to uphold. She serves as the Lead Consultant of Holistic Fluency LLC, where the approach is: collective mindset + feedback cycle = collaborative stakeholder communities for empowered solutions.  Her unique approach merges social & emotional learning with multiple facets of data to support individuals and organizations in defining, developing, and demonstrating community. Led by Anika, the organization proves that it is gifted with giving perspective, shining a light, building capacity, and sprinkling a little cayenne when needed on virtually any educational topic. However - community, the village, and all that comes with it is her focus and fave! You can be assured that some intentional communication and awareness gems will be conveyed during time with her, while generally giving you some things to think about. As an award-winning consultant and educator, Anika believes that we all must work to do our part to see, study, and support each other in order to be outstanding members of the village that we talk about so often. Throughout her work, insight, confidence, and efficacy are increased through the development of positive decision-making skills, holistic advocacy, and servant leadership. When Anika is not busy being The Community Curator, she enjoys traveling, creating new recipes, connecting with family & friends, being the consummate aunty to former students, and her time as a Tae Kwon Do mom.

Brandi Juarez

Brandi is a proud mom of three. Two of her children are Austin ISD students; her daughter attends Harris Elementary and her oldest son will start at Navarro High School this Fall. Brandi Juarez moved from her hometown, Comfort, TX to San Antonio, TX,  where she received her Bachelor's Degree at the University of the Incarnate Word. Over the last ten years, Brandi has helped parents at her children's schools and the community. She has motivated them to become involved in their child's education. She has also assisted in building parent programs and served on school committees and panels across the city. Brandi Juarez currently serves as a Families as Partners Parent Champion Mentor assisting other parent leaders across five elementary schools. She is an active board member of the Parent Teacher Association and a chair of Campus Advisory Council at Harris Elementary and Dobie Middle School. She has also served as a Block Leader for Austin Voices connecting her community to different resources and learning opportunities. Brandi is a passionate advocate and supporter for AISD Parent Support Specialists, recognizing the importance of the role they serve in schools.

Jennifer Krawcyzk

Jennifer has over 17 years of experience in education.  She has spent most of her career working in Early Childhood Special Education.  Currently, Jennifer supports the Early Learning and Head Start classrooms with behavior interventions and tiered instructional strategies. During her work at AISD, she has developed professional development centered around social emotional learning and developmentally appropriate practices for early childhood.  

Ana Lee

Ana is currently a Content Interventionist at Oak Springs Elementary. This is her 11th year at Springs and her 19th year in education. Next year, she will be one of two school counselors serving the Dolphin Strong team! She is passionate about the well-being of students and eliminating the stigma around mental illness.

Kenneth Loyde

Kenneth is an SEL/CP&I Specialist for Austin ISD and has been with the district for 14 years. He comes from a family of educators but it was his observations and experiences while traveling throughout Latin America that sparked his passion for education. His current work is centered around Disrupting inequitable practices, examining biases, and creating inclusive multicultural school environments for adults and children.

Cory Matheny

Cory Matheny is the proud principal of Bernice Kiker Elementary School! She has been in education since 1997 and taught at the elementary level in Arizona, Missouri, Kentucky, and Texas. She and her family moved to Austin in 2009 where she continued to serve as an elementary classroom teacher, and then worked towards her leadership goals of becoming an assistant principal, and now principal. She is proud to lead a campus that focuses on the whole child through relationships, social and emotional learning, and differentiated instruction so that ALL students can be successful. Cory has been married for twenty-five years to SEL curriculum writer and public speaker, R. Keeth Matheny and they have two awesome kids.

Sloan McLain

Sloan McLain brings 20+ years of instructional leadership, expertise, and passion for teaching and learning as Austin ISD's Creative Learning Initiative Coordinator.  Sloan served as the demonstration classroom for the CLI and was awarded AISD's Elementary Teacher of the Year. She then became AISD’s first Creative Teaching instructional coach and MINDPOP’s first Education Director. She has designed and facilitated Creative Teaching workshops for thousands of teachers in AISD and nationwide.  

Frankie Mendoza

Frankie Mendoza is an experienced school culture setter and student success advocate. Driving a positive school culture by designing a school-wide restorative behavior and reflective system, Frankie supports district leaders, principals, teachers, and students in building and restoring relationships to support academics and learning. Frankie believes that relationships on campuses are the root of all connections and it takes true vulnerability and truth by everyone. Frankie has led campuses to decrease school suspension and behavior incidents. Frankie also believes that implementing relationship connection on campuses supports culture, climate, belonging, teacher retention, and family persistence. 

Heather Mills

Heather has been the the school counselor at Oak Springs Elementary for the past two years. Prior to that she was a counselor in Jarrell and taught middle school and elementary school in Round Rock. She is passionate about advocating for the social emotional and mental health needs of all students. 

Leslie Montoya

Leslie Montoya is a highly-acclaimed mindset strategic coach, renowned for her expertise in emotional management garnered through over 10 years of experience. Her illustrious career spanning more than 20 years in the media industry makes her an expert in communication. She has worked for various Mexican networks such as MVS Radio, and TV Azteca, honing her skills in communication. However, her most notable work was at Univision, where she worked for over 14 years as a presenter and expert in emotional health. Throughout her career, Leslie has been nominated several times as the best television personality in her city, and she won an EMMY award from the National Academy of Television and Science Lone Star Emmy Award. Currently, Leslie is the host of her highly popular podcast show, "Leslie Contigo," where she continues to inspire and motivate her listeners with personal development topics. In addition, she conducts highly effective motivational workshops that enable individuals to reach their goals. Leslie Montoya is a recognized personality known for her unwavering dedication to communication and her mission to motivate and assist individuals in the personal and emotional realm.

Linda Natera

Linda Natera identifies as a (she/her) Latina. Founder and Director of Sana Yoga. She is a Latina small business owner of  “Elements of Ayurveda.” Linda decided to start a small nonprofit during the COVID-19 pandemic since the LatinX community was highly affected in the city. Through the organization, Linda provides a pathway for healing that is equitable and accessible throughout Austin, Texas. Sana Yoga cooperates with other organizations in order to reduce systemic factors that negatively impact mental health, physical health, and social well being amongst our LatinX community and other marginalized communities. Linda is a certified YTT Instructor |Trauma Informed | Ayurvedic Practitioner |Mindful Grieving Facilitator and ACY Certified. 

Maile Noble

Maile Noble is entering her last year of high school at Anderson High School. After taking both Ethnic Studies and African American Studies, she's found immense value in working toward equity, especially in the school system. She is  a member of the district design team working on the goals for AISD campuses and how to incorporate the Student Equity Council into our daily lives so every student feels accepted and cared for. She hopes to see SEC push campuses and staff to interact with the SEL and CP&I resources that are sent out. Furthermore, her main goal is to end performance activism in our schools and create a deep rooted and integrated connection with all equity committees into our district. In her free time, she spends time volunteering at Candlelight Ranch working with children and families that have disabilities, financial troubles, or anything that could prevent them from fun childhood experiences. It is a safe space for everyone, and she adores the returning members and is excited each and every time she gets to go help out. 

Ryan O'Donnell

Ryan O’Donnell has been an educator for two decades, with the last 16 years all in Austin ISD. He’s held various roles at two elementary schools, including as a 3rd & 4th grade teacher and math specialist, as well as a STEM specialist for the Eastside Vertical Team. As a district administrator, Ryan worked as a Coordinator of Educator Effectiveness where he specialized in developing a new teacher appraisal and compensation system. He currently serves as the Partnerships Coordinator with the Office of Innovation and Development supporting schools across the district with fundraising strategies including building partnerships, grant writing, and crowdfunding resources; he also manages the Austin Ed Fund grant program.

Katie O'Neil

Katie O'Neil can't believe she is old enough to have worked in Austin ISD for 16 years, first as a theater/AVID teacher, then a science/AVID teacher, and now as an SEL and CP&I Specialist. She tends to support secondary schools with the occasional dalliance in the elementary realm.  Her core values are joy, authenticity, and meaningful work. She is a December Sagittarius, metal Monkey, Enneagram 7, Myers-Briggs ENFP. She loves students and teachers, teaching and learning, learning new ways to disrupt inequitable systems, and also cephalopods especially octopuses.

Nancy Owens

Nancy Owens has a Bachelor's and Master's in Fine Arts and has been a theatre arts educator with AISD for over 15 years. She teaches with local professional companies, Austin Shakespeare and Zach Scott Theatre. Nancy is also interning as a counselor while earning her graduate degree in School Counseling. Her approach to student social-emotional health is active and engaging. Students learn about themselves through peer interaction, personal self-expression, and play.

Caitlin Palmer

Caitlin Palmer taught Secondary ELA in Austin ISD from 2013-2022 and currently serves as an ELA Academic Coaching Specialist for the district. Her interest in the intersection of non-violent literacy practices and the art of co-creating classroom community led her to study nonviolence in India in 2017. Her nonviolent literacy work has been studied by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Education. Caitlin is a teacher consultant with the Heart of Texas Writing Project and sings the part of Garfunkel in the ATX Paul Simon tribute band, Simon Says.

Statia Paschel

Ms. Paschel grew up on the beaches of South Carolina. She moved to Texas after high school to attend Texas A&M University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology.  Ms. Paschel served as a health/PE educator and coach prior to earning her Master’s in Educational Administration from Concordia University. She is currently working on her doctorate at Texas A&M Commerce.  Paschel believes in co-creating inclusive systems to support students’ social, emotional, and academic achievement. She has been an educator for more than 20 years and recently served as an elementary assistant principal prior to her new role as the Director of Social and Emotional Learning and Cultural Proficiency & Inclusiveness in Austin ISD.  On a personal note, she is the proud mother of an intelligent, energetic, baseball player who is a high school sophomore this year. They spend most of their free time on the baseball field, watching movies and trying to find the best pizza in town.

Eric Piñon

Eric Piñon has been in education for 10 years. Graduated from Texas A&M with his Bachelor's degree and Lamar University with his Masters's. During his career, he found his passion in coaching Speech and Debate, taking his students to the State and National tournaments several years in a row. However, it was through speech and debate that he realized that he understood the importance of one voice. Mr. Pinon then started speaking at conference on educational leadership and service leadership. His philosophy on campus is “Students first, paperwork second.” Mr. Pinon is currently at LBJ ECHS under the leadership of Dr. Welch!

Pilar Rendon

Pilar Rendon is a bilingual registered dietitian who believes that the decisions we make while eating not only affects our body but also our planet. Currently she works at Farmshare Austin helping to spread the word about the importance of knowing where your food is grown and how to make this good food accessible to everyone.

Bruce Rhone

Bruce Rhone Jr. is a father and a husband. He is a scholar, educator, and entrepreneur from New Orleans, Louisiana. Bruce is a proud member of professional organizations and graduate of Dillard University and Western Governors University. He has worked with underserved populations and has a passion for helping students excel in S.T.E.M. curriculum.

Susan Rozanc

Susan Rozanc is director of Guitar Ensembles and Orchestra, and Fine Arts Department Chair at William B. Travis Early College High School in Austin, Texas as well as serving as the AISD Fine Arts Facilitator for High School Guitar. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education and Music Performance, and a Master of Music in Music Education from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Ms. Rozanc has 28 years classroom teaching experience and is in her 13th year with Austin ISD. She has experience teaching many musical disciplines including band, choir, piano, musical theater, orchestra, and music appreciation in addition to her experience in classical guitar ensemble. She has extensive experience teaching historically underserved youth. She is the founding secretary  of the Texas Guitar Directors Association and serves currently as the organization’s vice president. Her guitar students have performed at the 2018 National Conference for the National Association for Music Education, Brownsville Guitar Ensemble Competition, Hill Country Guitar Ensemble Competition, and numerous AISD events. Ms. Rozanc is passionate about empowering educators to pursue self care that makes a real lasting difference and encouraging others to do the same. 

Althea Samuels

Althea Samuels has over 25 years of successful teaching experience, 19 of which include teaching in Jamaica, where she was born and raised, and nine years with AISD. She has a Master's degree in Human Resource Management Studies, a BA in Sociology and Management Studies from The University of the West Indies in Jamaica and a diploma in Primary Education. Presently, she is a high school Language Arts and Reading teacher and lead teacher at the Travis County Juvenile Detention Center. She believes that the following is a mantra to teach and live by, “If you can ignite one person to see the value of education, the power within themselves, or that they too matter then you have created a forever change, the embodiment of greatness.” 

Kayla Santana-Linares

Kayla grounds her work as an educator and equity facilitator in fostering community and challenging existing systems' abilities to meet the needs of all students, families, and educators. A graduate of Texas State University, Kayla holds a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Students and served her central Texas community as a middle school teacher for five years. Kayla centers interconnectedness and radical imagination in her humanizing approach to educational equity work.

Keegan Sarwate

Keegan, age 17, is currently attending McCallum High School in the class of 2024. He is the founder of the AISD banned book clubs, and currently serves as the District 7 Representative on Austin Youth Council. His biggest passion is music, and he has been performing in Austin venues as a singer/guitarist for the last seven years. He is very excited to work on the Student Equity Council! 

Veronica Silva

Veronica Silva is a Restorative Practices Coordinator at Austin Independent School District. Prior to this role, she served as an AISD elementary and middle school teacher for six years. She is a recipient of the Woodrow Wilson-Rockefeller Brother’s Fund Fellowship for Aspiring Teachers of Color (2010). She received a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas State University and Master of Arts in Elementary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is married to Jesse Silva and co-parent of Esperanza and Serenidad, their children.

Michelle Snyder

Michelle Snyder has worked at Crockett for a decade in her role as the college and career advisor.  For seven of the ten years, she has also served on Crockett’s SEL committee, helping to plan advisory activities and campus SEL events. The best part of her week is when students come share pieces of their lives with her from the couch in her office.

Teri Wood

Teri holds a Doctorate in Educational Psychology, a Master's in School Counseling, and is the Trust-Based Relational Intervention© and Brain Science Coordinator  for the Austin Independent School District.  She is a former school counselor, classroom teacher, and lecturer in Educational Psychology at the University of Texas with 32 years of experience in working with children at both elementary and secondary levels.  As a coordinator, trainer, and coach for trauma-informed responses, she uses her expertise as a Trust-Based Relational Intervention Educator©  and Neurosequential Model in Education trainer to provide staff, families and community partners with trauma-informed and brain science-based approaches that they can implement in daily life.