Sarah Vice has taught a plethora of grade levels and is currently a sixth grade teacher at Forest Grove Elemetary School in Bettendorf, IA. She has a Masters’ Degree in Educational Administration. She has helped open two elementary buildings within the Pleasant Valley School District. As a National Geography certified educator, she shares her leadership and vision with others as the district’s grade level lead teacher. Sarah also co-designed the instructional framework of Design.Drive.Do with Beth Campbell to help equip teachers and students. She believes in being courageous, taking risks and being an advocate for her students to empower them to see the possibilities all around them.

Beth Campbell is currently the teacher librarian at Forest Grove Elementary School in Bettendorf, IA and an adjunct professor at the University of Iowa in the Library and Information Science Department. During her lengthy career in education, she has advocated for the school experience to be relevant, authentic and meaningful, while also elevating opportunities for student voice.

Her innovative work with students’ podcasting can be found on iTunes, Voiced.Ca and other hosting platforms. She co-designed the instructional frame of Design.Drive.Do with Sarah Vice. She has co-authored an article on Student Voice with Allison Zmuda, which was published in School Library Connection. Creating a #CultureOfReaders has been at the foundation of her work in and out of the library.

Aaron Maurer, also known as “Coffeechug” is the STEM Lead for 21 school districts in Iowa helping to expand STEM, Computer Science, Makerspace, and Purposeful Play into classrooms K-12 for the Mississippi Bend AEA 9. He is on a quest to bring more wonder and play into the learning process in schools to further develop lifelong learners.

Modeling being a lifelong learner, Aaron recently published a book, Smart Robotics with LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor: Learn to play with the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor kit and build creative robots. He has a second book coming on 2022 titled, Design Innovative Robots with LEGO SPIKE Prime

He is an avid fan of STEAM, Makerspaces, and Project Based Learning. Last, he is an avid coffee consumer searching for that perfect cup of joe. You can find all of his work on his website www.coffeeforthebrain.com.

Steven C. Smith is the Education Specialist for NASA’s Educator Professional Development Collaborative at the Johnson Space Center. Steven helps to develop, package, and deliver professional development and STEM Engagement opportunities that translate the work and discoveries of NASA for use in the classroom. His work allows students to participate directly in NASA’s missions, and helps teachers make content more accessible for all their students. Steven has the great privilege of working with educators all over the country, helping them create culturally responsive lessons that will engage students that have previously felt left out of the amazing work NASA is doing.

He holds degrees from the University of Washington, Brigham Young University, Georgia College and State University, and Middle Georgia State University. Prior to his work with NASA, Steven spent 20 years in K-12 education coaching educators and teaching special education, regular education, honors, and AP students in Georgia, Washington State, and New Jersey.

After exploring and hiking the globe for over 17 years. Chaz now lives his life as an Explorer, Expedition Leader and Survival Guide. His ongoing project ‘The Wildest Journey’ is all about his wildest journeys by foot along Africa's wildest rivers with an aim to raise awareness for wildlife conservation and anti poaching. In 2016/17 Chaz spent 137 days walking over 3000km from source to sea along the Zambezi River, and in 2019 spent 47 days walking 1120km from source to sea along the Gambia river and in the same year leading a small team for 800km over 29 days from east to west across Madagascar whilst walking source to sea along the country's longest river, The Mangoky.

All journeys being world first expeditions

Chaz was awarded with the honorary title of ‘Explorer of the Year 2021’ by the Scientific Exploration Society

Tim Needles is an artist, educator and author of STEAM Power: Infusing Art Into Your STEM Curriculum. He is a technology integration specialist and teaches art/media at Smithtown School District, is a TEDx Talk speaker, and his work has been featured on NPR, in the New York Times, Columbus Museum of Art, Norman Rockwell Museum, Alexandria Museum of Art, Katonah Museum of Art, and Cape Cod Museum of Art. He’s the recipient of ISTE’s Technology in Action Award and Creativity Award, NAEA’s Eastern Region Art Educator Award & AET Outstanding Teaching Award, and The Rauschenberg Power of Art Award. He’s a National Geographic Certified Teacher, PBS Digital Innovator, a NASA Solar System Ambassador, an ISTE Community leader, NAEA ArtEdTech interest Group leader, and Adobe Creative Educator. He’s active on social media at @timneedles.

Laura currently serves local school districts for Great Prairie Area Education Agency as a 21st Century Learning Specialist. She also works statewide with the AEA Learning Online team to roleout Iowa’s first ever digital PK-12 project board: Iowa’s Clearinghouse for Work Based Learning. Her profession focuses on helping teachers to modernize instructional practices for the 21st Century, embedding authentic learning experiences as curriculum based on community partnerships, and assisting local school districts with their redesigned learning environments to best serve students. Laura received her B.A. in Interdepartmental Health Studies: Emphasis on Multidisciplinary Sciences and her M.A.T. in Secondary Science Education from the University of Iowa. Laura acquired her principal licensure and Ed. Leadership Degree in May 2019 from the University of Iowa. Laura’s passion for teaching took her to Costa Rica in 2010 where she taught English and Science and then to Mount Pleasant, IA in 2013 to 2016 where she taught middle school Science in one of the first redesigned learning environments in Iowa as a result of the Iowa STEM initiative.

Gabrielle Ewing is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. She produces, writes, and edits digitally distributed web series and short documentaries on a wide variety of topics, including science, social justice, and history. She has worked at NBC, CNN, and National Geographic where her work was part of a package that was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Gabrielle graduated with honors in Journalism and Film & Television from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and is now the Director of Programming at PBS Digital Studios in Washington DC where she lives with her husband and rescue dog. She’s currently directing her first feature length documentary, Credible Fear, about the US asylum system.

Niki (she/her) has seven years of experience programming, strategizing, writing, editing, and project managing award-winning creative projects. She is passionate about building diverse and inclusive teams, journalistic ethics, and women’s and LGBTQ+ issues.

As Associate Director of Programming at PBS Digital Studios, the award-winning digital programming arm of PBS, she works across the network’s 30+ video series on YouTube, social media, and OTT, with an emphasis on documentaries and new/emerging platforms (i.e. TikTok, podcasts, and whatever comes next!). She’s had the pleasure of managing and mentoring complex, fast-moving teams and projects (including Emmy and Webby winners), personnel, and a handful of fabulous interns. Prior to joining PBS, Niki was a Video Producer at NPR, where she directed 200+ Tiny Desk Concerts, produced the Peabody-nominated documentary series Jazz Night in America, collaborated on news videos, including a Morning Edition interview series with former President Barack Obama, and much more.

Paula Hill was a Middle/High ELA and Communications educator prior to joining PBS in January 2020. During her time as a classroom educator, she was fortunate to be surrounded by inspiring educators and leaders who motivated, coached, and encouraged her growth and the growth of her students. She found a deep love for curriculum and curriculum development very early on in her teaching career. She transitioned out of the classroom right before the pandemic, and joined PBS LearningMedia as a Content Development Specialist. As she continues to learn and grow from others, she looks forward to "paying-it forward" by helping her fellow educators and their students achieve success. She recently completed the Google Project Management Career Certificate-a rigorous, hands-on program that covers traditional and Agile project management approaches through the life cycle of a project. She is also a Certified Associate in Project Management, through the Project Management Institute.

Abinaya Manivannan is a Associate Director of Digital Engagement at PBS—with a focus on children’s media and education. Abi holds a B.S. in Marketing with a minor in Communications and Economics from George Mason University, and a M.S. in Communications from Purdue University. Abi curates professional development opportunities for educators through the creation and amplification of educational resources. Abi’s passion lies in social justice and empowering educators and children by

elevating their voices through content.

Meg is a content producer and researcher with experience strategizing, wire framing, and executing media projects for diverse audiences with the goal of making complex topics easier to understand. As the Associate Director of Content Development for PBS LearningMedia, she works with PBS member stations, independent producers, and educators to create digital lessons and activities for middle and high school students, inspired by PBS programs. Previously, Meg worked as a graphics researcher for National Geographic, helping to design and build infographics and maps.

Andrea Stewart is the director of The Center, a coalition of Area Education Agencies (AEAs), districts, institutions of higher education (IHEs), and local education organizations that are collaboratively building Iowa's learner-centered future. She holds a BA in English Education from the University of Iowa, a Master's in Education from Morningside College, and an EdS in Leadership from Drake University. Using her passion for human-centered design, systems thinking, and equity-centered frameworks, Andrea has led transformational change and professional learning with AEAs, districts, IHEs, and via national conferences, webinars, and cross-state partnerships and consultation. She is the product developer for The Center’s Customizing Learning Suite, a set of interactive web-based tools that provide customized pathways for supporting teacher practice shifts so that more learners engage in personalized, authentic, and competency-based experiences.

Andrea held multiple leadership roles on Iowa's Competency-Based Education Task Force, within the Iowa CBE Collaborative, and on the Iowa Department of Education CBE Design Team and Planning Team. As part of this work, she led the state's competency design and assessment process with partner schools. As an advocate of personalized, competency-based learning for adults, Andrea served on the Midwest Comprehensive Center’s Cross-state CBE Consortium, where she co-created micro-credential quality criteria and tools. As part of her national consulting, she served as a CBE coach for districts in the Illinois State Board of Education’s competency-based education initiative with the Midwest Comprehensive Center at American Institutes for Research. Andrea also served on multiple Technical Advisory Groups for the Aurora Institute (formerly iNACOL) National 2017 Summit on K-12 Competency-Based Education.

In addition to statewide and national roles, Andrea is a consultant with Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, serving 21 school districts in the areas of school improvement and transformation, student engagement, teacher leadership, and personalized, competency-based learning.

Susan Waddell has been a graphic designer at Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency for 23 years. She graduated from St Ambrose University with a BA in Fine Art (painting) and ran a small art gallery before coming to the AEA. Susan raised four pretty awesome kids and now enjoys time with her husband and Bernedoodle, Beau. Since becoming an empty nester, Susan has reclaimed space for a small studio at home where she enjoys working with pastels and acrylics.

“I love the diverse projects that come through the AEA…hearing and helping clients work through their ideas and coming up with a little something unexpected,” said Susan. “What I really enjoy is doing wall/office design with different media and textures including framed posters, vinyl, mounted images, and large wall murals.”

Angela Hiatt is the educational outreach coordinator at Iowa PBS. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree in education with focuses in reading, science, early childhood, elementary education and teacher leadership. Previously, she worked as an educator in a variety of settings while providing professional development and assisting in curriculum design. She is passionate about connecting formal and informal educators with free resources to engage learners and inspire learning. She embraces a multifaceted approach to connect with Iowa's learners through digital, print and in-person efforts. All services and resources are provided at no cost.