Jean Holenko

Jean “Jeannie” Holenko is a Responsive Classroom consulting teacher with over 25 years of teaching experience in both elementary and middle school settings. She has been using the Responsive Classroom approach with students since 2001 and has been sharing it with teachers since 2006. Through these many years, Jeannie has seen the positive academic and social effects of the daily incorporation of Responsive Classroom principles and strategies in her classroom and school. She is quite passionate about sharing them with other school professionals. She designs professional development experiences for her school and district throughout the school year and feels fortunate to be able to bring similar experiences to other educators throughout the summer months. Jeannie enjoys spending time with friends and family as well as traveling, cooking, and playing tennis.

Jenni Lee Groegler Pierson

Jenni Lee Groegler Pierson is a Reading Recovery and literacy support teacher in Flemington, New Jersey, and holds a master’s degree in the art of teaching. After attending a Responsive Classroom training at the start of her career over sixteen years ago, Jenni Lee implemented the approach with first, second, third, and fifth grade classes and credits it with building positive learning environments for all students. She now modifies the approach for her specialized setting. Jenni Lee believes every child can be successful, a mindset she grew up with as the daughter of an educator. She is grateful to collaborate with fellow educators as a consulting teacher for Center for Responsive Schools. Jenni Lee is a coauthor of Empowering Educators: A Comprehensive Guide to Teaching Grades 3, 4, 5 and author of multiple Quick Coaching Guides, including Joyful Gatherings and Seeing That Students Belong and Are Significant. Outside of the classroom, Jenni Lee enjoys spending time with family, reading, and visiting Disney.

Jennifer Belanger

Jennifer Belanger Jennifer has two decades of experience in the classroom and is currently a K–5 visual art teacher in the Greater Boston area. She received her master’s degree in secondary education with a concentration in visual art and later went on to pursue her Responsive Classroom certification after diving into the practice of social-emotional learning. As the Responsive Classroom facilitator for her district, she leads adult learners and creates virtual workshops on the subject of growth mindset. Her experience as a unified arts specialist gives her the advantage of practicing Responsive Classroom with all developmental levels. She looks forward to supporting other educators as they begin their RC journey. In her spare time, Jennifer can be found with her husband and two boys planning their next adventure or instructing yoga at her favorite local studio.

Jessica Johnson

Jessica Johnson is currently a Social Emotional Learning Coach in Minneapolis, MN and has been in the field of education since 2010. She received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Arkansas and later went on to pursue her B.A. in Elementary Education from St. Catherine University. It was at St. Catherine that she gained exposure to the Responsive Classroom approach. After graduation she attended multiple courses to further her Responsive Classroom journey. She has experience teaching second and fourth grades where she saw relationships as key to community. In her current role, she supports educators in the importance of authentic relationships with students and applying the principles practices of Responsive Classroom to all students in pre-K to 5th grade. In her spare time, she loves reading, traveling, and spending time with her husband, son and rambunctious goldendoodle. She is thrilled to be supporting Elementary Educators in their Responsive Classroom journey.

Jill Kostynick

Jill Kostynick is a first grade teacher for the Stillwater School District in Minnesota. Jill’s career began twenty-five-plus years ago in St. Paul, Minnesota, as a special education teacher at a school for children who experience trauma, mental illness, and abuse. While working to create a learning community, Jill found the book Teaching Children to Care: Management in the Responsive Classroom, by Ruth Sidney Charney. The mindset Jill gained from this book helped her succeed in a level 7 EBD residential school and continues to inspire her love of teaching daily. Jill has written and implemented several grants designed to build upon student creativity, empathy, choice, social interaction, and the use of trauma-responsive teaching. She welcomes anyone into her classroom to observe and experience the community her students have created through Responsive Classroom practices. Jill is excited to share what she has learned and continues to learn from children and educators.

Jill Krysil

Jill Krysil is currently a second grade teacher in Boxborough, Massachusetts. Jill majored in Spanish and education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and later received her master’s degree in education from Smith College. She was first introduced to the Responsive Classroom approach in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, before she even set foot in her very first classroom. Since then, Responsive Classroom has transformed her teaching in so many ways. Now she is thrilled to share specific strategies, mindset shifts, and small changes with teachers that have big impacts on fostering safe and joyful classroom communities. Jill believes deeply in the power of teacher language and responding to misbehavior with empathy and curiosity. In her free time, Jill loves being with her family, hiking, practicing yoga, and dancing.

Jill Pszeniczny

Jill Pszeniczny has been an educator for 19 years. Most of that time has been spent teaching second grade in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, leading ELL/inclusion classrooms. In 2006, Jill attended her first Responsive Classroom course and immediately saw an alignment between Responsive Classroom practices and her own personal values. In 2009, she became a consulting teacher, presenting for both her district and Center for Responsive Schools. She embraces the opportunity to share this recipe for learning success and growing good people in her classroom and school. Jill was the 2018 recipient of the Community Partnership Award for a General Educator from the Federation for Children with Special Needs in Boston, Massachusetts. In her spare time, Jill enjoys attending her son’s soccer games, her daughter’s dance and musical performances, and spending time with friends and loved ones.

Jodi McErlane

Jodi McErlane is currently a first grade teacher in Greenville, Pennsylvania. She has been teaching for 29 years. When not in the classroom, she is passionate about sharing the Responsive Classroom approach with other educators and has been doing so since 1998. In her spare time, Jodi loves taking walks, reading, and spending time with her family. Books she just can’t do without are The Power of Our Words and Interactive Modeling, both published by Center for Responsive Schools.

Jodie Luongo

With over 20 years of elementary school experience in both urban and suburban classrooms, Jodie Luongo is currently a math specialist for grades K-5 in the Connecticut public schools. A transplant from the business world to education, Jodie witnessed the positive transformation of staff and students using the Responsive Classroom approach while working in Stamford, Connecticut, public schools. She immediately decided to become a Responsive Classroom consulting teacher so that she could share these proven practices with administrators and teachers in her new district. Based on her commitment to teaching teachers the Responsive Classroom approach, Jodie’s colleagues voted her the 2017-2018 Teacher of the Year. Jodie shares Responsive Classroom strategies with educators around the country and is a co-author of Doing Language Arts in Morning Meeting, published by Center for Responsive Schools. In her free time, Jodie does what she loves most: dog sitting with her husband, eating dark chocolate, watching movies and theater, reading, and yoga—lots of yoga.

Joe Calafiore

Joe Calafiore has been an eighth grade ancient world history teacher in New Jersey since 2015. During his first year of teaching, Joe was part of the pilot program for the Responsive Classroom approach in middle school, during which he found a passion for teaching that focuses not only on academic skills, but social and emotional skills as well. Joe continues to stress these areas, as well as the notion of global citizenship, in his classroom today. Joe is a graduate of Montclair State University with a double major in history education and theater studies. His interests include Civil War history and acting (unsurprisingly), as well as reading, video games, travel, and kayaking.

Joe Lareau

Joe Lareau graduated from Berklee College of Music, after which he received an MPhil in Ethnomusicology from the University of Ghana and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. Currently he is at the Fessenden School in West Newton, Massachusetts, where he teaches percussion, music, and West African rhythms. He is an innovation coach and works as an enrichment program designer in the after-school program. A strong advocate for diversity and cultural awareness, he involves his students in learning about the ethnic groups and the cultural context of the music he teaches. In addition, he offers group tours to Ghana for educators and is a consulting teacher for Center for Responsive Schools. He lives in Maynard, Massachusetts, with his wife and their four children.

 

 

Joe Tilley

Dr. Joe Tilley is currently a Curriculum and Instructional Designer and educational consultant with Center for Responsive Schools. He received his bachelor of science from Middle Tennessee State University, master of science from the University of Memphis, and doctor of education from Middle Tennessee State University. He has taught special education in kindergarten through eighth grade in various metropolitan districts, including Memphis, Atlanta, and Nashville. Joe also served as a multi-site special education coach at the district level for Metro Nashville Public Schools. Joe joined Center for Responsive Schools to share his passion for social-emotional learning with other educators. In his spare time, he enjoys time with his family, the outdoors, and his two fur children, Harvey and Roxie.

Joseph DePalma

Joseph DePalma has been a teacher since 2011 and currently teaches at an elementary school in the greater New Haven, Connecticut, area. He has experience teaching first, second, and third grades and pre-K. He received his master’s degree in elementary education from the University of New Haven and later went on to pursue a sixth-year degree in instructional technologies and digital media literacy from the University of New Hampshire. He is thrilled to be supporting teachers in making schools safe, joyful, and engaging places for students through his role as a Responsive Classroom consulting teacher with Center for Responsive Schools. In his spare time, Joe loves working out, reading, golfing, and traveling with his wife, Melissa.

Judy Hanscom

Judy Hanscom has been in education, primarily teaching kindergarten and first grade, since 1994. Judy has taught the Reading/Language Arts Methods course to education majors at the University of Maine at Machias. Judy has also taught yoga to both adults and children since 2013. In her spare time, Judy enjoys reading, quilting, and hiking the Bold Coast of Maine.

Julia Monke

Julia Monke has the unique perspective of experiencing Responsive Classroom both as an educator and as a student. In eight years of classroom teaching between Minneapolis and New Orleans, Julia has utilized the principles and practices of Responsive Classroom to ensure all students feel safe, are challenged academically, and enjoy the same joyful classroom experience she did. Julia believes that great teachers, providing high-quality and accessible education, will change the world. Seeing how Responsive Classroom helped, and continues to help, her develop as a teacher has made Julia passionate about spreading the Responsive Classroom approach to her colleagues. Julia has a BA and MEd in elementary education, both from the University of Minnesota. Currently, she teaches kindergarten in a suburb of Minneapolis. When she’s not teaching, you’ll find Julia outside with a stack of books and good coffee.

Julie Coleman

Julie Coleman is currently an elementary classroom teacher in a suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota. She obtained a bachelor of science degree in elementary education, with an emphasis on early childhood and pre-primary age levels, along with a master of arts degree in English as a Second Language. In 2015, Julie was awarded with the Readers’ Choice Award, Teacher of the Year, in the Saint Croix Valley Area of Minnesota/Wisconsin. More recently, she received an Outstanding Teacher Award through the Partnership Plan of the Stillwater Area Public School District. Julie is thrilled to be a Responsive Classroom certified teacher and consulting teacher, and is dedicated to empowering educators to implement Responsive Classroom practices in their schools so that all students feel a sense of belonging, significance, and fun. In her spare time, Julie loves to explore new restaurants with her friends and walk her dog, Walter, with her fiancé.