Dr. Melissa Metz gets #celebratED for successfully defending her dissertation and earning her EdD in Educational Leadership at the University of North Florida! Melissa serves as the Principal of Coppergate Elementary in the School District of Clay County, Florida, and as the President of the Jacksonville "Roar" chapter of the National Football Cheerleaders Alumni Organization (NFCAO). Prior to this, Melissa served as a Principal, Assistant Principal, Literacy Specialist and I

Dr. Chris Jochum gets #celebratED for being named a Humanex Community Exemplar at the Humanex Ventures Impact and Legacy Summit in Omaha, Nebraska! The honor recognizes him for a life of impact that is multiplied through the lives of others both directly and indirectly. The summit brings together industry leaders, prominent authors, and notable experts across business, education, and athletics to focus on maximizing talent, building great teams, and fostering growth through t

Sara Koteff gets #celebratED for being named the 2026 Volusia Council of Teachers of Mathematics High School Math Teacher of the Year! Sara is a Teacher of Online Learning for the Volusia County, Florida School District. Prior to this, she served as an ESE Middle School Mathematics Teacher at Ormond Beach Middle School, also in Volusia County. We applaud Sara in receiving this recognition, and we wish her all the best in her next steps on her journey! Volusia Council of Teach

Rebecca Brennan gets #celebratED for being appointed Head of Lower School for The St. Paul's Schools in Timonium, Maryland! In accepting this exciting new opportunity, Rebecca shared: "I am drawn to St. Paul’s rich tradition of academic excellence and its dedication to character development. I am honored to contribute to its mission as Head of Lower School." Prior to this new role, she was a Principal and an Assistant Principal with the Anne Arundel County Public Schools and

Sara Barber-Just gets #celebratED for receiving the inaugural Commonwealth Pride Award, a newly-founded annual event sponsored by the Massachusetts legislature’s LGBTQ Caucus, celebrating the rich accomplishments and talents of the Massachusetts’ LGBTQ+ community! She was nominated by Representative Mindy Domb (D-Amherst) and Representative Aaron Saunders (D-Belchertown). Sara is the English department chair at Amherst Regional High School, where she has been a teacher for 28

Shirnesha Simpkins Church gets #celebratED for being recognized as an Outstanding School-Based Leader during the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Honors ceremony! She serves as the Director of Student Services at Herndon Middle School in Fairfax County Public Schools. In celebrating Shirnesha, Dr. Monika Guerrero Vereb shared, “Having worked closely alongside Shirnesha at Herndon Middle School over the course of four years, I have seen firsthand how she leads with a rare

Diran L. Cowell gets #celebratED for being named a new Assistant Principal at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia! Prior to this, he was a District Behavior Specialist and a Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Trainer & Certified Master Level CPI Instructor in Arlington County Schools, as a Relief Probation Counselor at the Juvenile Detention Center in Fairfax County, Virginia, and as a Special Education Teacher & Administrative Intern with the District of Columbia Publi

Rock Magis gets #celebratED for being named Principal of Campus Administration for the Crowley Independent School District in Fort Worth, Texas! Before this appointment, he served as an Assistant Principal with Crowley, and prior to that he was the Founding Principal of Business Operations for Rocketship Public Schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and as an Assistant Principal with the Castleberry Independent School District in Fort Worth. We applaud Rock across his le

Travis L. Reeves gets #celebratED for being named the next Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of School Administrators (NCASA)! He retires the end of June as Superintendent of the Surry County, North Carolina Schools, and he previously served as Superintendent of Ashe County Schools in Jefferson, North Carolina, and as Principal at Eastern Guilford High School in Gibsonville, North Carolina. We celebrate Travis for an extraordinary career of service, and we

Jake West gets #celebratED for joining the International School Bangkok, Thailand as a Middle School & High School Curriculum and Learning Specialist! Previously he served as the Learning Coordinator and Middle School Science & Math Teacher for Saigon South International School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, as well as a secondary teacher at the International School Aberdeen, Scotland. We congratulate him on this new role, and we look forward to hearing great things ahead! In

Kim Alvin De Lara gets #celebratED for being named the 2026 Educator of the Year by Rotary-Chandler USD and Chandler City Council! He is a Gifted Education Teacher for the Chandler, Arizona Unified School District, and he previously served as an Intern for the Army Educational Outreach Program, and as a Fellow with the Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation at Arizona State University. We celebrate Kim for this outstanding recognition of his contributio

Elizabeth Montanaro gets #celebrated as a new Clinical Assistant Professor at Loyola University Maryland School of Education! Prior to this, she served as a Reading Specialist for Lab School Of Washington, DC and as Clinical Assistant Professor at The Catholic University of America, also in Washington. We are grateful for all the ways she serves the profession, and we are excited for her new role at Loyola! Loyola University Maryland Lab School Of Washington The Catholic Univ