Meet the Authors

Kendra Alston

Kendra Alston is a Literacy Facilitator for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. This is her 26th year in education and she is originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Kendra holds a Bachelor’s Degree and Two Masters Degrees in education. She received her undergraduate degree from The Winston-Salem State University, and her Masters degrees from Winthrop University and Gardner-Webb University, respectively. Kendra is currently a doctoral candidate and her research interests center around the impact of virtual learning on parent engagement. Kendra is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher and has successfully coached teachers through the National Board Process. She has trained over 1500 teachers across North Carolina and the surrounding states in the areas of differentiation, rigor, assessments, parental involvement, Socratic Seminar, vocabulary instruction, schema activation, and brain-based learning. Her first book, Karson Goes to Kindergarten, was inspired by and written for her beloved son and her second book, Slime-A-Rella, is a culturally relevant fairy tale and launched in July of 2020. Kendra currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. If you’d like to learn more about the author, you can follow her on Facebook. Just search @Kendraalstontheauthor or www.kendraalston.com

Tabitha Boyd-Collins

Tabitha Boyd-Collins has been in the educational arena for 16 years. She has taught grades 3-5^th grade including Gifted & Talented students. Tabitha has served as a mentor, coach, CRT, and Assistant Administrator. She is currently one of the lead presenters for United Way of the Midlands, specializing in reading and math. Tabitha has also worked with Pearson Educational Services writing Praxis testing items for teachers. She is currently a doctoral student at Gardner-Webb University. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her two boys, Luke and Kash, and spending time at the beach.

Lucia K. Jacobs

As a veteran educator, Mrs. Lucia K. Jacobs has worked tirelessly as a practitioner and an advocate for professional educators to be the best for the children and students of South Carolina. Mrs. Jacobs holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from South Carolina State University, a masters degree in educational leadership from the University of South Carolina, and is currently working towards a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Gardner-Webb University and National Certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) from the University of South Carolina - Columbia. Mrs. Jacobs has many years of experience as a secondary school administrator, program coordinator/manager, professional development presenter, teacher evaluator, 21st Century grant director and after-school program director, college adjunct professor and mentor. Her expertise is in behavior analysis, classroom management, teaching and assessing for learning and using results for continuous improvement. Mrs. Jacobs frequently consults with college and university educational professionals in growing and developing new teachers. Currently, Mrs. Jacobs is an educator in Lexington Richland School District Five and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Grand Canyon University.

Phyllis Marshall

Phyllis Marshall is a doctoral candidate at Gardner-Webb University located in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Her research interests focuses on the impact a Spanish Immersion Program has on the academic achievement of African American third grade students compared to the academic achievement of African American third grade students in a non-immersion classroom in the content areas of reading and math. Phyllis earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from High Point University and her master’s degree in Elementary Education from Gardner-Webb University. She has twenty-seven years of experience in education serving as a teacher assistant, Bridges to Success Youth Development Coordinator, general education teacher. Currently, she is the Spanish Immersion English Reading teacher in North Carolina. In addition to her academic work, Phyllis enjoys spending time with family and friends exploring different vacation spots.