Elevate Learning

Beverly DeRise
MD Instructor/PD & Collaboration Associate, The Janus School
Presentation: Executive Skills Are Everyone’s Job
Bio: Bev DeRise is an instructor and the PD & Collaboration Associate at The Janus School, an independent K-12 school serving students with learning differences. With more than 20 years of experience in special education, Bev combines classroom experience with a neurodevelopmental approach to learning. She coordinates professional learning for educators and leads initiatives focused on executive skills, instructional practice, and student independence. Bev is particularly passionate about helping educators recognize the invisible skills underlying successful learning and creating environments in which students can develop those skills intentionally.

Sheena Donovan
Project Analyst, Asert
Presentation: Strategies to Support Autistic Students: Ways to Enable and Empower
Bio: Sheena Donovan has spent 20 years working with adults to help them live their best lives.

As a program specialist, she worked with ID/A individuals in preparing for independent living and employment. Helping adults reach their goals through education is one of her key philosophies. She has trained numerous audiences in autism awareness, crisis intervention, social-emotional learning, and support strategies.

Adrienne Floro
Middle School Division Director, Falk Laboratory School
Presentation: Regulate, Connect, Learn:Mindfulness & SEL Practices for Every Classroom
Bio: Adrienne Floro is an experienced educator and school leader whose career spans more than three decades in public and independent schools. A National Board Certified Teacher, she holds a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and has served as a teacher, curriculum and assessment leader, and middle and upper school administrator. Adrienne was a finalist for Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year in 2012 and was named PMEA Middle School Principal of the Year in 2019. She is also a 500-hour Breathe for Change certified Yoga, Mindfulness, and SEL educator, integrating learning science, mindfulness, student well-being, and learner-centered practices into her educational leadership.

Vanessa Castañeda Gill
CEO and Co-Founder, Social Cipher, Social Cipher
Presentation: Expanding Who Thrives: Neurodiversity, Belonging, and School Excellence
Bio: Vanessa Castañeda Gill is the Co-founder and CEO of Social Cipher, which uses story-driven video games to build belonging, self-regulation skills, and inclusion for neurodivergent youth. Drawing on her own journey as an autistic/ADHD individual, Vanessa leads a neurodiverse team of developers and educators running an evidence-based platform that supports students while equipping their teachers and counselors with practical tools. She and her team have partnered with over 200 schools and therapy centers across 8 countries, earning recognition as Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees, MIT Solvers, and LEGO Foundation Partners.

Madeleine Harkins
Vice Principal, Villa Maria Academy
Presentation: Assume Less, Teach More: Building Student Success from Day One
Bio: Madeleine Harkins serves as Vice Principal of Institutional Culture at Villa Maria Academy High School, where she leads initiatives focused on teaching and learning, faculty development, student success, and school culture. Her work centers on creating intentional structures that support growth, accountability, and meaningful learning for both educators and students. She has helped lead initiatives including Growth Coaching, professional learning, and the development of Villa’s ninth-grade Student Success Lab, designed to proactively build the skills students need to thrive in high school.

Stacey Joseph
Directo of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, DVFriends
Presentation: Why Belonging Matters and What We Can Do to Uplift It
Bio: Stacey Joseph is the Director of DEIB at DVFriends, a school for bright students with learning differences, and the Founder of ImpactEDI. With more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning education, nonprofit organizations, and Fortune 500 Companies, she helps builds inclusive cultures where people learn, lead, and have a shared sense of belonging. As a first-generation immigrant and someone with a learning difference, Stacey brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work. Grounded in the philosophy of Ubuntu, she is a Cornelle University Certified DEI practitioner, a facilitator, strategist, published writer, and speaker dedicated to advancing belonging, equity, and human connection.

Julie A. Klingerman
Private contractor and literacy consultant, LoudonClear Literacy Consulting, LLC
Presentation: Developmental Language Disorder: A Practical Guide for Classroom Teachers
Bio: Julie Klingerman, LoudonClear Literacy Consulting LLC, has worked in public education for nearly 40 years. In that time, she was a classroom teacher, literacy coach, and reading specialist for primary and secondary students. After becoming a LETRS® trainer in 2011, she earned her doctorate in reading and literacy in 2016 and has been an adjunct instructor of literacy for graduate students at Liberty University and Wilson College.  Dr. Klingerman is currently a LETRS professional learning facilitator and creator of nationally recognized, original presentations that focus on bridging the gap between research and practice.

Leslie Laud
Releasing Writers
Presentation: A Deeper Dive into Releasing Writers for 5-8
Bio: Dr. Leslie Laud pioneered using the science of writing, particularly SRSD, as a teacher in 2008 and began publishing peer-reviewed studies on the science of writing. She now keynotes at national education conferences, and has served as a Principal Investigator on major federally funded grants from IES and EIR which studied how to adapt evidence-based approaches such as SRSD for wide-scale. She is also the author of Executive Skills & Writing (Guilford Press, 2025). This book integrates the broad science of writing framework into a user-friendly framework for bringing the science of writing to their classrooms easily.

Following her doctoral training at Columbia University in system-wide school change, Dr. Laud now leads Releasing Writers’ national team of PD providers, partners multiple state education agencies and collaborates with leading experts in the science of writing instruction and assessment. What began in a handful of classrooms has now reached thousands of schools, districts, and state systems. 

Dr. Leslie Laud’s work bridges research and practice—helping schools translate the science of writing into practical, scalable classroom solutions that improve student outcomes.

Nana Massie
Middle School Humanities, Kentucky Avenue School
Presentation: Teaching AI to Students
Bio: I have a BA from Yale, a MSc from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and an MAT from Pitt. I’ve been teaching since 2007 and am licensed in Social Studies, English, and ESL. I currently teach at Kentucky Avenue School in Shadyside. I have special interests in teaching writing and working with neurodiverse learners.

Kate Mayer
Structured Literacy Specialist, Everyone Reads PA
Presentation: When Programs Don't Work - Rebuilding Decoding at the Sound Level
Bio: Kate Mayer is a literacy specialist, educational consultant and founder of Keystone Structured Literacy Partners. A Pennsylvania Certified Reading Specialist and CERI Certified Structured Literacy Dyslexia Interventionist, she works with students, families, educators and school systems to improve access to evidence-based literacy instruction. Kate co-founded Everyone Reads PA and The Reading League PA and previously served as a Senior Literacy Specialist at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement. Her work bridges research, policy and practice through literacy assessment, curriculum and instructional design, professional learning and advocacy, with particular expertise in structured literacy, learning disabilities and special education.

Thomas McLaughlin
Co-Academic Dean for Teaching & Learning, Upper School English Teacher, Chair - Generative AI Committee, Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
Presentation: Generative AI Helps Me Teach English
Bio: Tom McLaughlin has served as an Upper School English teacher, humanities department chair, upper school academic dean, and academic dean for teaching and learning. He chair of the generative AI committee at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, PA, where he also teaches English and history and mentors teachers.

Carole Paterson
Head of Middle School, The Ellis School
Presentation: All In: Engage, Experience, Transform, and Thrive
Bio: 

Sister Immaculata Marie Policare, OP
Adjunct Instructor, School of Education, Aquinas College
Presentation: Fluency: Moving from Learning to Read to Reading to Learn
Bio: Sister Immaculata Marie Policare, O.P. currently serves in the School of Education at Aquinas College in Nashville, TN. She has been a Dominican Sister of Saint Cecilia, known as the Nashville Dominicans, for over 15 years and a Catholic educator for over 10 years. She has both an Master’s in Education and a Master’s in Theology and is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in Literacy at Carlow University. Her studies and research areas include fluency instruction, reading aloud to build background knowledge, explicit phonics instruction, and the role of morphology in expanding students’ vocabulary and comprehension.

Jim Roche
Science Teacher - Lead Consultant, Trevor Day School - Mountainside AI Education Consultants
Presentation: Reclaiming The Human Touch By Using AI
Bio: Jim Roche has over 20 years of teaching experience with the last nine of those being at Trevor Day School teaching Chemistry and Environmental Science classes.  Jim is also the lead consultant for Mountainside AI Education Consultants. He has presented his groundbreaking ideas on AI in education at Columbia University in the Fall of 2025 and at the Site Conference in Philadelphia in March of 2026.  Jim has pioneered the Generative Thinking Model of using AI in the classroom to augment critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Jonathan Strecker
Head of School, Valley School of Ligonier
Presentation: Pause, Purpose, Proof - How to use AI Effectively
Bio: Dr. Jonathan P. Strecker is a Head of School and the author of EMERGENCE (Prometheus Books, 2026). His YouTube channel reaches more than 175,000 subscribers.

Erin Thorkilsen
Founder; PreK - 12, Heart in Education
Presentation: The Whole Class Is Watching
Bio: Erin Thorkilsen is an educator, facilitator, and TEDx speaker with more than two decades of experience in independent schools, including 20 years as a lower school classroom teacher and program Director at Greens Farms Academy in Westport, CT. She is the founder of Heart in Education, partnering with schools through professional development, coaching, and consulting focused on teaching, relationships, and school communities. Erin is also an adjunct professor in the College of Education at the University of Rhode Island, where she supervises student teachers across the state. Her work centers on empathy, reflection, belonging, and the human side of teaching and learning.

Michelle Trostle
board member, The Reading League Pennsylvania
Presentation: Teach Handwriting Right: Handwriting for Literacy and Learning
Bio: Michelle Trostle is an educator, literacy and MTSS consultant, and doctoral student with 25 years of experience spanning K–12 teaching, instructional leadership, district administration, and professional learning. A Certified Structured Literacy Dyslexia Interventionist, Michelle specializes in translating research into effective, explicit instructional practices. She is the author of Write It, Read It: Handwriting and Phonics for Early Readers and the founder of Teach Reading Right, where she develops resources to help educators and families bridge research and practice. Michelle serves on the board of The Reading League Pennsylvania and is passionate about creating meaningful, inclusive learning experiences that help all students thrive.