Dismissed with Jeremy Williams

Karen began her teaching career in Harvard, Massachusetts where she taught 5th, 6th, and 8th-grade social studies. This was followed by years of serving as a teacher and director of fitness and recreation programs. Karen developed an elementary interdisciplinary curriculum as a researcher and writer and then as a trainer and promoter of the national physical education program, Physical Best. Karen’s children inspired her to create a progressive learning environment that honors all children as people. She founded Voyagers’ Community School in 2004 after spending 18 months composing the philosophical foundation that guides our day-to-day operations.

Karen has garnered recognition as the Keynote Speaker and Presenter at both national and local professional conferences, including, most recently, the Association for Constructivist Teaching Conference and the Progressive Education Network. She has been a Guest on DisruptED TV, https://vimeo.com/244796148. She has also advised many start-up school efforts. Karen serves as the New Jersey State Liaison for the Alternative Education Resource Organization. She also served as Chairperson and Treasurer for the New Jersey Educators Exploring the Practices of Reggio Emilia, President of A Child’s Place Education Fund, a member of The Colts Neck 9/11 Committee, and past Treasurer and President of The Colts Neck PTO.

Karen’s most recent project was directing the renovation of our new 14,000 square foot home, originally built in 1908. Our building was restored with thought to its original character, our contemporary needs, the necessary time-frame and the wants and visions expressed by students, faculty, and staff.

Currently, Karen serves as the Co-Chair of the Middle State Association Accreditation Team. She leads a staff of 18 and directs all admissions initiative. She also oversees the operation of a new initiative, the Individualized Education Services program. Karen makes time to teach a rousing high school humanities course, with a focus on social justice and diversity. Karen’s passions include reading historical novels and memoirs, traveling, playing board games, chatting for hours with good friends and family and always dancing, everywhere.

Learn more about Karen:

https://www.voyagerscommunityschool.org/

Or on Twitter at:

https://twitter.com/VoyagersFounder

Jamal was a contestant on the 39th season of Survivor: Island of the Idols. When he’s not running around on a Fijian Island, he is the Admission Product Area Consultant for a database software company called Veracross. Before that, he worked as an admission professional at 2 independent high schools in Providence, RI, and Lawrenceville, NJ. After graduating from Brown University in 2007, he worked for the Prep for Prep program as a post-placement counselor in New York City. Education, diversity and equity work have been life-long passions of his, so weaving constructive conversations about identity and social justice into his everyday life and on deserted islands while playing Survivor just comes naturally to him. After the show, he hopes to find many more platforms to encourage these discussions and improve our collective fluency regarding these issues.

Find Jamal on Social Media:

https://facebook.com/jam.shipman

https://twitter.com/JamManK9

https://instagram.com/jammank91/

Email: [email protected]

Markus’ favorite part of starting the company is being able to work with passionate people to make customers'lives easier. He has an engineering degree in information management and more than 20 years in information technology with a focus on project management, which makes him uniquely qualified to handle issues ranging from the background to foreground of running a company.

Markus enjoys multi-tasking and being involved on nearly every project and working with different personalities. In his spare time, he's an aspiring woodworker, mostly working on projects with and for his two daughters.

Website: https://www.myexpattaxes.com

Social Media:

Twitter: @markus_finster and @MyExpatTaxes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myexpattaxes

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markusfinster/

https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/my-expat-taxes/

Brandon Busteed leads Kaplan’s work serving U.S. colleges and universities, leveraging the organization’s highly-diversified, global educational offerings and insights.  His mission is to help U.S. higher education adapt, grow and thrive.

Prior to Kaplan, Busteed was Global Head of Public Sector at Gallup – serving higher education, government and foundations.  In that role, Busteed led dozens of ground-breaking studies and consulted with hundreds of higher ed leaders.

Busteed was the founder and CEO of Outside The Classroom, one of the country’s first successful Ed Tech companies which was acquired by EverFi in 2011. Its flagship online courses on alcohol abuse and sexual assault prevention have been taken by more than 10 million college students.

An internationally known speaker and author on education and workforce development, Busteed has published more than 100 articles and keynoted more than 200 conferences.  He was named a LinkedIn “Top Voice” in education for 2018, and is a frequent contributor for Forbes.com.

Busteed received his bachelor’s degree in public policy from Duke University where he was also a two-sport Division 1 athlete. He received an honorary doctorate from Augustana College. He is a trustee emeritus of Duke and has served on the Board of Visitors of the Sanford School of Public Policy. Busteed is a current member of the Business-Higher Education Forum - the nation’s oldest membership organization of Fortune 500 CEOs, college and university presidents, and other leaders dedicated to the creation of a highly skilled future workforce.

Find Brandon on LinkedIn

Find Brandon's column for Forbes

Dr. Donovan Garletts is an incredibly driven and decorated educator.  A former state champion basketball coach, principal, and now Assistant Superintendent, Donovan never planned to be an educator but it became his calling.  Learn about Donovan's story and listen to him share about the future. 

Where do you go when you're in your early 30's and already a Superintendent?

Check out Donovan's Twitter.

Justin Belt is a HS English teacher in Frisco, TX and is deeply passionate about connecting people to their purpose.  He is one of the most thoughtful and beautiful educators I know. In this episode of Dismissed, we discuss moving a family of 7 across the USA, learning how a new school works, and naming our intentions for the upcoming school year.

Find Justin on Twitter here.

Rae Hughart is a Middle-Level Math Educator in Illinois, creator of the Teach Further Model,  and the Director of Training & Development for the Teach Better Team. Rae continues to facilitate rich discussions with educators around mastering personalized learning, providing targeted student-focused feedback, and the impact of incorporating purpose into daily learning. After being inducted into The Illinois State University Hall of Fame in 2017, Rae was awarded the 2018 First Place Henry Ford Teacher Innovator Award for her innovative educational impact.

Find Rae on:

Twitter

Teach Better

Cris Saldaña is educational leader from Pflugerville, Texas.  Cris tells his story of how he found education as a career pathway, talks about his work now in his school, and what his aspirations are for the future.

Cris's Twitter

Cris's Blog

Aubrey has taught K-12 and college, in Canada and Japan. His biggest contributions have come as a principal in elementary and high schools for 5 years and a district director/superintendent for over 12 years. He loves sports, music, travel and devouring leadership books.

Aubrey's Twitter

Nohea's Website

Aubrey on LinkedIn

I rank the top 5(ish) episodes of Dismissed as we pass the 50 episode mark.

Honorable Mention

Pam Moran

Chris McNutt

Priya Lakhani

Inspire Citizens

Top 6 in no particular order 

Dr. Olli Pekka-Heinonen

Brad Barrett

JT McCormick

Pran Patel

Lord Jim Knight

Samson Williams