Presenters

Stephanie Lester

Stephanie Lester spent over ten years as a preschool teacher, moved up to Kindergarten, then planned and implemented a science-based multiage curriculum for Kindergarten-First grade children for over ten years. She left the classroom to serve as an Assistant Principal, then as director of a preschool program for her local school district.

She also served as the director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for a preschool – eighth grade public school district. Presently, Stephanie is completing her twentieth year as a Child and Family Education college instructor. Rounding out her experience, Ms. Lester served on the California Governor’s Reading and Literacy Project as a keynote speaker for several years and she presents nationally at NAEYC each year. .

Stephanie Lester has been involved in the Montana Preschool Development Grant, so understands the state indicators at a deep level and how to implement them in the classroom. She works in Montana with preschool programs, so understands our systems

Carrie Cole

One of Carrie's greatest strengths is her ability to communicate and demonstrate how to put the latest research into action in the “real world” classroom. She is a contributing author to the Teaching Reading Sourcebook (2nd Ed.), working for over two years on this project from conception to publication. This was a thought-provoking experience that allowed her the time to pour over the recent published research and then work with an amazing team to develop a thorough but concise graphic explanation of research-based content and best practices in reading instruction. Specifically, Carrie's experience with “real world” implementation issues gave her the background needed to work on several of the book’s lesson models, providing a bridge between the research and classroom.

Currently, much of Carrie's work consists of writing and delivering on-site professional development at the school, district, and state levels that is centered around fundamental knowledge in effective research-based reading instructional practices, based on the latest reading and writing research, with explicit connections to the Common Core Standards. Her biggest strength lies in working side-by-side with teachers to bridge the research to practice gap, bringing these research-based instructional strategies to the classroom in a very real way.

Sara Cole & Kate Berry

Sara Cole is the Director of Special Services for the Kalispell Public Schools in Kalispell, Montana. She has served as an educator, administrator and professional learning facilitator for the past 19 years. Sara actively collaborates, coaches and supports the implementation of multiple district initiatives, with a focus of ensuring psychological safety, equity and student academic and social and emotional growth. She is an IIRP certified Restorative Practices trainer, sits on the Center for Restorative Youth Justice (CRYJ) Board, and is passionate about integrating social-emotional and resiliency practices into all aspects of education. Sara received a B.A. in History and Special Education from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and a M.Ed. from Cleveland State University in the area of Organizational Leadership. She has three beautiful children and is grateful for the opportunity to live, learn and work in such an amazing community.

Kate Berry is a social worker and facilitator who is passionate about helping adults and children build their social-emotional skills. Since earning a Bachelor's degree in Social Work from the University of Montana, Kate has worked extensively with young people, educators, and community members to help build connections and increase resiliency and support for vulnerable populations. With a background in restorative justice and suicide prevention, Kate is currently earning a Master of Social Work through Florida State University. She is a certified instructor in QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer), Talk Saves Lives, and both Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid, and also holds an Executive Certificate in School-Justice Partnerships from Georgetown University. In her free time, she loves to read, cook, walk her dogs, and play board games with her family.

LAUREN SWINEFORD THOMPSON , PH.D., CCC-SLP

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR - ELSON S. FLOYD COLLEGE OF MEDICINE WASHINTON STATE UNIVERSITY

Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences Early Social Communication and Language Lab

EDUCATION

Ph.D Communication Sciences and Disorders, Florida State University

M.A. Communication Sciences and Disorders, Florida State University

B.S. Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, Kean University

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Prelinguistic Communication Social Communication

Language Development and Disorders Developmental Disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorder Developmental Trajectories Assessment and Measurement

Wayne Callender Ed.S.

One of the county’s leading RTI / MTSS Consultants, Wayne has worked at the state, district and building level implementing Response the RTI / MTSS model addressing academic and behavioral needs. A former statewide RTI director, Wayne currently trains and advises educators across the country in the implementation of MTSS and in the area of school improvement. In addition to being featured as keynote speaker at over a dozen state and national conferences, Wayne has authored numerous RtI articles one of which was recently published in Principal Magazine, as well as writing RtI for Secondary Schools – A School‐Wide Approach published by Corwin Press in 2014.

Yolanda Westerburg

Yolanda began her diverse teaching career in Oregon and then moved to the state of Washington. During her time as an educator, Yolanda has worked as a classroom teacher, reading interventionist and a K-12 Literacy Specialist. She has taught a variety of subjects to a wide array of learners, ranging from Kindergarten to adult educators; however, the one thing that has remained a constant in her career is her love for teaching Literacy. Literacy is fundamental in understanding all subjects as well as being the key to understanding and expressing one’s self. As a past national Step Up to Writing trainer and Instructional coach for Voyager/Sopris Educational Services, she has facilitated workshops across the country. Yolanda has been deeply involved in curriculum and results oriented instruction since entering the field of education. She is currently an educational consultant for school districts across the United States presenting effective writing and reading instruction. Her expertise is in Literacy yearlong planning and implementation of practical strategies that benefit the classroom educator and thus improve student learning and staff efficacy