Course Leaders 2020-21

Bridge to College Course Leaders help high schools implement the courses. They work with regional teams across the state and provide face-to-face trainings for teachers who will teach the course.

English

Sean W. Agriss – Assistant Professor, Eastern Washington University; Director of Secondary English Education; Running Start in the High School Faculty Director for English Specialization: Pedagogy, Teaching Methods, Cultural Studies, and Social Theory Biography: PhD in Education with emphasis in Cultural Studies and Social Thought, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, July 2011 Master of Arts in Liberal Arts, St. John’s College Graduate Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2003 Bachelor of Science in English Education, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania, 2000.

Paula Gunther – Paula is currently a teacher at Prairie High School in Battle Ground Public Schools where she has taught for the last 20 years. She has been involved with BTCE since its inception serving as a leader during module piloting as well as being a teacher and leader since 2015. To further inform and involve others in BTCE, she presented at the TYCA conference and co-authored an article for the WERA Educational Journal. In addition to her work with BTCE, Paula has worked on multiple WASL, HSPE, and CCSS committees including item writing and review and serving as a Washington state representative when determining CCSS cut scores. For the past year, Paula has also served as a Washington State Fellow working on 6-12 ELA vertical teaming for her district.

Lori Inman – Lori Inman is an ELA Instructional Coordinator for the Mead School District where she conducts professional development on standards alignment, classroom best practices, formative assessment development, and data-driven instruction. Lori was a high school English teacher for 22 years before moving into her current position. Her work at the district, regional and state level led to her involvement in the Bridge to College program where she has served as a course leader for the past four years. In this capacity, Lori has led Communities of Practice, written and reviewed modules for the course, and led Bridges course trainings for new and returning teachers.

Elizabeth Jensen–Elizabeth is a National Board Certified teacher at Grandview High School. Additionally, she teaches developmental English classes and tutors in the Writing Center at the Grandview campus of Yakima Valley College. She has worked with Bridge to College as a teacher, Team Leader, and Trainer. Elizabeth spends time as a mentor teacher, PLC leader, and an edtpa scorer

Stephanie King – Stephanie is currently an English teacher at Granger High School in the lower Yakima Valley town of Granger. She teaches University of Washington in the High School English 131/111, English 12, Bridge to College ELA, and Senior Capstone. Stephanie is National Board Certified and has her Masters in Education.

Susan Meyers – Susan has administered college-level writing programs at four institutions and is currently an Associate Professor of English at Seattle University, where she also directs the writing program.

Andrea Reid – Andrea is a tenured English instructor at Spokane Community College (SCC), where she has taught literature and composition for 18 years. She also works as SCC’s Faculty Assessment Coordinator for transfer programs. Andrea is passionate about cross-sector, collaborative educational projects, especially those that emphasize student access and equity across the k-16 educational system. In addition to serving as a leader for SBCTC’s Bridge to College English, she has helped facilitate a three-year grant for Community Colleges of Spokane (CCS), Eastern Washington University, and College Spark Washington, and she is currently the Grant Coordinator for a CCS cross-sector project, Collaboration for Rural Student College & Career Readiness.

Other Bridge to College English Course Leaders (pictures and/or bios pending):

Sandra Baird, Spokane Public Schools

Brooke Brown, Franklin Pierce School District

Mark Valentine, Peninsula College

Math

Susan Cedar – Susan is a National Board Certificated Teacher. She began teaching in 2007 and started with Bridge to College Math in 2015 as an instructor and Community of Practice leader. Her first course had 16 students, and she now teaches two full sections to eager college bound students. Working at Mariner High School in Mukilteo School District, Susan has extensive experience with a diverse student body, English Language Learners, and first generation college (and high school completion) students. It is likely that you might see her in some of the Bridge to College videos. Her passion for the Bridge to College program stems from reaching those students who are often in the middle of the academic success range and really helping them to see college as a tangible goal by accessing information on colleges, scholarships, campus life as well as the mathematical readiness to achieve success when they get there.

Dawn Draus – Dawn is a math instructor and department chair at Lower Columbia College. Dawn holds an MS in Mathematics from Northern Arizona University and an MS in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences fromUtah State University. Over the past several years she has partnered with local high schools to increase the number of high school graduates placing directly into college level math. She also leads the pre-college math reform efforts at her college and has presented the work nationally and regionally. For the first time in her career, she did not teach this summer so that she could spend time training the new puppy Fezzik, a Great Pyrenees and Saint Bernard mix.

Shereen Henry – Shereen has helped further student’s K-12 education for 20 years. She taught math at Shorecrest High School in Shoreline, WA for 11 years prior to becoming the Secondary Math Instructional Specialist for Shoreline Schools in 2008. In this role, Shereen designed and implemented an extensive program of professional development and support for mathematics teachers in the district. Shereen views the national Teach to Lead movement as critical, and she has collaborated with colleagues on ways to build leaders in our school buildings. Shereen has a passion for college and career readiness and has been involved in numerous partnerships and grants with higher education to further student’s opportunities as a Shoreline Public Schools employee. In September of 2015, Shereen became the Director of Instructional Leadership at Washington Alliance for Better Schools. Washington Alliance for Better Schools is a collaborative of 11 school districts that leverages resources, talent and intellectual capital to help a quarter million students graduate career and college ready. Shereen holds an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in mathematics from the University of Washington.

Leslie Nielsen – Leslie E. J. Nielsen, Ph.D., is the Mathematics Program Manager at Puget Sound Educational Service District where she is part of the math team supporting mathematics learning for students in 35 districts in King and Pierce Counties. Leslie has been a mathematics educator for 30 plus years, the last 19 of which have been in Washington State. She has taught students in kindergarten through college in Pennsylvania, California, Denmark, and Washington, served as the Math Specialist for the Issaquah School District for 8 years, taught at the University of Washington Seattle, and coordinated the UW Secondary Teacher Education. Leslie has provided job-embedded professional development for districts in Washington and edited and authored math text books and supplemental materials including extensive work with the Geometer’s Sketchpad, and co-authoring Is Democracy Fair: The Mathematics of Voting and Apportionment. Leslie has been working with Bridge to College for the last few years as a course leader and helped develop the math virtual professional development opportunities.

Debra Olson – Debbie is currently serving as CEO for the Mathematics Education Collaborative (MEC), a non-profit organization that works in partnership with schools and communities, providing powerful mathematics workshops for parents, teachers, administrators, business and community leaders, higher education faculty and others. She has been a secondary/post-secondary mathematics educator since 1997 and was most recently a mathematics faculty member at Spokane Falls Community College. She has contributed actively to efforts such as the Spokane Area Transitions Math Project, the Riverpoint Partnership Math Project, the Rethinking Precollege Mathematics Project, and the Eastern Washington University/Community Colleges of Spokane College Spark Transitions Project. Debbie is also a Washington State Bridge to College Math Course Trainer, an American Mathematical Association of Two Year College Project ACCCESS Fellow, serves on the Executive Committee for the Washington Teachers of Teacher of Mathematics, and is facilitating regional CCSSM Unifying Theme Workshops as a result of participating in the Washington State MEC MSP.