Dave Schumaker has been a public school teacher for 21 years, a principal of a high school and middle school for over ten years, and a staff develop for the past four years as the Director of the Central Coast Consortium for Professional Development, Region V in Santa Clara County, California.
LYNNE BEACHNER, PhD, is principal of St. Francis Xavier School (SFX), in Kansas City, MO, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Education, Rockhurst University (RU). In 1998, St. Francis Xavier School and Rockhurst University entered into a formal partnership to strengthen the curricular offerings at SFX and enhance the training of preservice teachers at Rockhurst. SFX is located across the street from RU so the sharing of resources and staff has been an exciting venture.
Sharon Crawford Hatton has been a teacher of writing and English for more than twenty years, with most of the last ten years as a consultant and advisor on writing. A long-time member of the Advisory Board of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, and a member of Advisory Board of the Bluegrass Writing Project since 1994, Hatton is currently a curriculum and assessment coordinator at the elementary school level.
Pam Leneave Ladd has been active in literacy and writing programs for many years, including work as a P–12 consultant with the esteemed Kentucky Writing Program from 1990 to 1999. Currently a K–6 writing consultant for Cooper-Whiteside Elementary School in Paducah, Kentucky, Ladd is also the owner of Writing Connections, Inc., an educational consulting firm that promotes best practice teaching and curriculum development, especially as it relates to reading and writing integration.
Connie Hollingsworth is Adjuct Assistant Professor and Director of Pre-College Programs in the College of Human Ecology, Department of Human Resource Development, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). She received her PhD in Human Ecology from UTK in 1995. Since beginning her tenure at UTK she has been directly involved in securing $6,000,000 in federal funds, including 10 years of securing and administering USDA contracts.