The Speakers
Keynotes
Naomi Watkins and Robert Austin
Naomi Watkins is the Secondary English Language Arts and Library Media Specialist at USBE. A former middle school ELA teacher and instructional coach, Naomi created the first-ever K-12 curriculum, website, and teacher workshops dedicated to Utah women's history as the Director of Education for Better Days 2020. She authored Champions of Change: 25 Women Who Made History, a book written with Katherine Kitterman and illustrated by Brooke Smart and is the co-host of the This is Her Place podcast about Utah women past and present. Naomi earned her Ph.D. from the University of Utah.
Robert Austin is the Humanities Team Coordinator and Secondary Social Studies Specialist at the USBE. A former middle school teacher and secondary literacy coach, Robert coordinates the Utah Teacher of the Year program and civics education efforts as well as supporting secondary social studies teachers.
Session Speakers
Katie Blunt
Katie Blunt is a technology trainer and the eMedia product manager with the Utah Education Network (UEN). Before joining the UEN team, she was an educational technology specialist in the Canyons School District and taught sixth grade in the Jordan School District. She served as president of the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET) from 2015-2016. She has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Brigham Young University and a master’s in Instructional Design and Educational Technology and a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah. Katie has teaching endorsements in ESL, Educational Technology, Keyboarding, and Multimedia and is an Apple and Nearpod certified educator.
Matthew Winters
Matthew Winters is a trainer at Utah Education Network. He holds a Med in Curriculum and Instruction from Weber State University and a MA in English Language and Literature. He is a former college and secondary ELA teacher, makerspace leader, and instructional technology coach. He is the current Utah Google Educator Group Co-Leader and Utah Coalition For Educational Technology President Elect. In his free time, he crate dives at local record stores and reads an inordinate amount of graphic novels.
Rob Bentley
Rob Bentley is the Adobe Product Manager for UEN. Over the last 14 years he's developed and taught 10 different courses for teachers, including several on educational media and formative assessment. Previously Rob taught Spanish and language arts in Granite School District. His Bachelors degree is in Spanish education with an English minor, and he also holds a Masters in Instructional Design and Educational Technology from the University of Utah.
Barbara Bailey
Barbara Bailey grew up in the stacks of the Allen County Public Library, reading Baby-Sitters Club books as her single working mom pursued her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. After receiving her Bachelor’s in Advertising from Michigan State University, Barbara spent most of the next decade as a stay-at-home-mom taking her two children to storytime at their local public library, where she finally realized what she wanted to be: a Youth Services Librarian! She completed her MLIS at Kent State University with a focus on Children’s Collection Development and was the Children’s Services Librarian and then Manager at Morley Library for 7.5 years before coming to OverDrive to be a Sora librarian where she now helps schools in the Western U.S. build and manage their digital media collections.
Dr. Richard Saunders
Dr. Saunders came to SUU in 2014. He works with the Sherratt Library circulating collections (digital and print) and writes widely on history and library subjects.
Rachel Cook
Rachel Cook is the Grants Coordinator and a Library Consultant at the Utah State Library Division. She has a masters in Arts Administration from SUU and loves assisting libraries across the state however she can. She loves her family, clever pop culture references, and tacos.
Noel Zickefoose
Noel is an Account Manager with OverDrive and supports schools across Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. She loves to listen to audiobooks when she's driving and loves to play Read-Alongs for her three little girls (ages 7, 5, and 2) at bedtime. When she's not working she loves to run and eat chocolate.
Clint Stephens
Regional Technology Integration Specialist Clint Stephens brings twelve years classroom experience to SEDC. Clint was awarded the Utah Middle School Science Teacher of the Year award by his peers and also won several technology innovation grants & awards. He has taught secondary science in Escalante, Hurricane and Salt Lake City, and has been helping teachers in the SEDC region for over 14 years.
Debbie Short is an Electronic Resources Librarian at Utah Valley University. She has been a professional librarian for a little over 30 years, working in both public and academic libraries. As an active advocate of library services and intellectual freedom for about the last 20 years, she has held multiple volunteer positions in both the American Library Association (ALA) and the Utah Library Association (ULA). Currently she is the co-Chair of the ULA, Intellectual Freedom Committee.