Board Members

President

Term: 2019-2023

Email: julia@cuesf.org

Twitter: @maynardsixth

Julia Maynard is a teacher librarian at Willie Brown Middle School in the Bayview area of San Francisco. Before that she taught 6th grade history, English, and many various iterations of a tech class. She has worked hard to transition every school she has worked at to the digital word by implementing online tools for collaboration and communication. Julia has taught sessions at Fall Cue, Lead 3.0, and ECET2. When she isn’t reading tween novels or building ancient Egyptian temples Julia can be found using one of her several apple devices to find new hand-on lessons for her classes.

Vice President

Term: 2020-2022

Email: michael@cuesf.org

Twitter: @MichaelBloemsma

Dr. Michael Bloemsma has over 16 years of experience in education and has worked as a classroom teacher, professor, and technology leader at the school, district, and county levels. Michael currently works for SFUSD in the Department of Technology as a Program Administrator of Technology & Innovation in support of building out our 1:1 Technology initiatives in the district. In this role Michael supports school site administrators and teachers to integrate technology and key pedagogies to help transform the learning experience for students and serve to help SFUSD achieve our Vision 2025 outcomes for students. Michael earned his B.A. in Psychology, with minor in Child Development from SDSU, his M.A. In Education, with emphasis in Instructional Technology from SFSU, and received his Ed.D. In Educational Administration and Leadership, with an emphasis in Technology Leadership from University of California, Irvine in 2013.

Vice President of Programming

Term: 2019-2023

Email: christy@cuesf.org

Twitter: @christypnovack

Christy Novack has been in education for over 19 years. She was an elementary educator for 14 years. Prior to this, she taught integration of technology tools at SF State to teachers gaining their credentials. She also created and taught technology electives for 6-8th graders as a paperless, blended learning classroom. She is currently the Access, Equity and Innovation Specialist for Pacifica School District which focuses on bringing innovative learning practices to the classroom. She is a local and national presenter on educational technology. See her website at edtechlearning.com

Secretary

Term: 2021-2023

Email:

Twitter:

For over 18 years, Jamie has redefined education practices by designing creative opportunities for educators to connect with their students. As a former high school teacher, school administrator, and after-school education director, Jamie has trained thousands of educators on student engagement in digital spaces.

The common threads across his practice are the belief that learning is most powerful when it’s founded on a child's experience outside of the classroom, and student engagement is most impactful when it fosters their digital identity.

When not working, Jamie can be found in the ocean.

Treasurer

Term: 2020-2022

Email:

Twitter: @WalderScience

My experience facilitating technology and science learning for adults and kids makes me eager to contribute to the CUE Board. In my most recent teaching position, I collaborated with our director of innovation to create and implement a Micro:bits learning unit where my 7th graders designed moving earth models. Although my learners faced many challenges during the multi-week process, seeing them gain such great collaboration and problem-solving skills inspired me to share this experience with other educators. I led both a district-level PD and a STEAM symposium session about Micro:bits, where educators had hands-on experience with the tool and left with ideas about how they could use the kits in their classrooms. I would love to continue providing hands-on experiences like this for educators in the Bay Area, and being a part of CUE’s Board would help me meet these like-minded people and continue contributing to my community.

Board Member

Term: 2018-2022

Email: thad@cuesf.org

Twitter: @AustiHawk64

A veteran SFUSD teacher of 32 years, Thad has always looked to the future of public education through technology enhanced pedagogy. His own educational background starts in the arts with fine art and film making. Thad earned his teaching credentials from SFSU in San Francisco, joining Hoover Middle School as a math and science teacher in 1997. He obtained a MA degree in mathematics education in 2007. In 2016 Thad moved from the classroom into technology coaching with the Digital Promise/ Verizon 1:1 iPad project. In this role he has been able to support the next phase of 21st Century learning at the whole-school site level as well as in partnership with many other schools also participating in the digital learning revolution.

Community Director

Term: 2018-2022

Email: Jess@cuesf.org

Twitter: @jfalkenthal

Jess has spent the past 15 years working at education startups, nonprofits, youth development programs, libraries and universities. Jess curates the Education Startup Digest, facilitates Startup Weekend Education programs around the world and is a volunteer for the 4-H Youth Development program. She previously led technology programming at the Boys and Girls Club and 4-H. She previously led her own community and marketing agency where she helped education organizations collaborate with, design with and grow with their educator & student communities.

Board Member

Term: 2019-2023

Email: dan@cuesf.org

Twitter: @frostd13

Dan has been an educator in SFUSD for ten years and has always been an avid implementor of technology in my classrooms. He currently works as a Digital Learning Partner in the Department of Technology at SFUSD helping teachers, administrators, and other staff integrate technology into their practice more effectively and efficiently. He develops and delivers training sessions and professional development series, leads and facilitates initiatives around digital implementation in schools, and advises administration on how to integrate technology use more thoughtfully for their whole school. He is currently spearheading the Digital Citizenship initiative for SFUSD.

Board Member

Term: 2020-2022

Email:

Twitter: @TeresaHLai1

Middle School Social Studies teacher and Teacher Librarian (all 3 levels) in SFUSD. Educational technology promoter and early adopter. I have learned new tech skills and platforms and have collaborated to share with colleagues. I am the past state President of California School Library Association (CSLA).

Board Member

Term: 2021-2023

Email:

Twitter:

Nicole previously served on the Cue Napa board and really enjoyed the experience of planning events and collaborating with the other board members. She's excited to join the board in San Francisco in her second year at SFUSD.

Board Member

Term: 2021-2023

Email:

Twitter:

Emily is a National Board Certified Teacher Librarian, and has been at MLK Middle School in San Francisco since 2015. During this time she's secured over $50,000 in grants to improve the library, diversify their collection, and advance literacy throughout the school. She is committed to equity and centering students, and making sure students feel welcome in all spaces in the school, especially the library. During distance learning she has focused on connecting students with books both online and in-person, and creating school-wide curriculum for their daily advisory/homeroom to support connection, and SEL, and model positive ways to use technology to center student voice and engagement. She finds it incredibly rewarding to see students respond positively to the online activities she's created and researched, and also to find new ways to support students’ creativity and amplify their voices via technology!

Board Member

Term: 2015-2017

Email: melissa@cuesf.org

Twitter: @MelissaPDodd

Melissa Dodd serves as the Chief Technology Officer for SFUSD. Melissa is charged with leading the district's technology vision and digital district plan, Building a Digital District, which articulates the district’s strategy to transform learning with technology, infusing technology into teaching, learning, and operations to realize the goals of Vision 2025 and the SFUSD graduate profile for college and career readiness in the 21st century. Prior to joining SFUSD, Melissa worked in the Boston Public Schools for more than eleven years, serving as Chief of Staff and Chief Information Officer. Melissa sat on the MA Board of Education Digital Learning Advisory Council and plays an active role with the Council of Great City Schools, most notably in the development of IT Key Performance Indicators now used by the largest 66 school districts in the country. Prior to joining BPS, she worked at Tufts and Harvard Universities managing academic programs and designing online communities of practice. Melissa has presented nationally on the role of technology in education and published on the use of digital simulations to teach problem-solving in the social sciences. Fluent in Spanish, Melissa has worked and traveled globally, including Spain, Latin America, and South Africa. She earned a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and Master’s Degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.