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My ESJ

Professional Development

Our work to lead, serve, and educate students is made possible by a dynamic faculty who model lifelong learning. Episcopal believes strongly in supporting our faculty and their ongoing growth through a diverse range of professional development. This includes regular programming made available across our campuses, such as book studies and other gatherings to learn, share, and connect. Significant resources are also dedicated to enable faculty to pursue individually meaningful professional learning opportunities across the nation and world, such as discipline-specific conferences, workshops, and seminars.

Owing to the generous support of our community over the years, additional funding is also available to support more elaborate and personalized ventures of growth and learning among our faculty each year through the Lastinger Fellowship. Established in 2000 by a generous gift from Delores and Allen Lastinger, the Lastinger Fellowship provides funds to support faculty members in pursuing immersive professional development opportunities in the summer that will have a significant, meaningful impact on their academic and intellectual lives and, consequently, on the lives of their students and colleagues at Episcopal. These opportunities could include travel, study abroad, or a variety of other unique and academically relevant experiences that are not part of an ongoing degree program. 

A Life Changing Trip to the Sea of Cortez

Read “A Life Changing Trip to the Sea of Cortez” by science teacher Janet Buford, who was the recipient of a Lastinger Fellowship in 2023

Professional Development Faculty and Staff Opportunities

Summer 2023
Fall 2023
    • Northeast Florida Regional Science and Engineering Fair (Sept. 19 on campus – Marion sent out information)
    • FAATSP (Sept. 7-9)
      1. Nitza Plaski
    • FATE (Oct. 12-14)
      1. Katie Black Bowling
      2. Langdon Zimmer
      3. Jono Hustis
      4. Colton Spurlock 
    • FCIS Convention (Nov. 2-4 in Miami) 
      1. Tracy Jester
      2. Christy Hodges
    • Northeast Florida Regional Science and Engineering Fair (Sept. 19 on campus – Marion sent out information)
    • FAATSP (Sept. 7-9)
      1. Nitza Plaski
    • FATE (Oct. 12-14)
      1. Katie Black Bowling
      2. Langdon Zimmer
      3. Jono Hustis
      4. Colton Spurlock 
    • FCIS Convention (Nov. 2-4 in Miami) 
      1. Tracy Jester
      2. Christy Hodges
Professional Development Activities 2021-2022

Upcoming

  • Josephine Sanchez will attend Chairing Your Department: The First Five Years at the end of July.
  • Justin Weise will attend the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Leadership Conference in late June
  • Christine Slack will attend the Computer Science Principles Workshop, hosted by UNF and STEM2 Hub, June 20 – 24

AP Reading/Workshops/Seminars attended during the year

    • Several faculty members participated in “Thanks for The Feedback” book study.
    • Michelle Baxter and Leslie Dawson attended the TEACH Conference 2021
    • Jefferson Brant, Natalie Herford, Paige McGee, and Amy Perkins attended the FCIS Convention in November 4, 2021.
    • Emily Edmonson, Caitlin Fitzpatrick, Nitza Plaski, and David Wandel were presenters at the FCIS Conference on November 4-5, 2021.
    • Amy Gallo attended the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Virtual Conference, November 17-20, 2021.
    • David Wandel participated in the Teachers on the Estuary Training at the National Estuarine Research Reserve System on November 17 – December 28, 2021
    • Nitza Plaski attended MUN – Model United Nations Fundamentals Virtual Workshop.
    • Greg Hersey and Carolyn Tuttle attended the FMEA (Florida Music Education Association) Conference 2022, January 12 – 15, 20222
    • Debbie Deppe, Amy Gallo, Scott Givonetti, Tracy Jester, Giancarlo Mascaro, Annetta McCoy, Jake Nash, Patti Phillips, Christine Slack, Margie Stevens, Dawn Vaughan attended the FETC (Future of Education Technology) Conference, January 25 – 28, 2022 in Orlando, Florida.
    • David Wandel attended the NSTA 2022 Houston National Conference, March 31 – April 2, 2022.
    • Susanne Daily, music instructor, participated in sessions relating to poetry in the music classrooms, making connections through movement, and using books to enhance musical skills and reading development during the Florida Music Educators Association Conference in Tampa.
    • Bridgett Stroud, Learning Specialist, took part in the SAIS Academic Support Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. She attended sessions relating to strategies to reduce student anxiety, how to apply executive function skills across curriculum, and dyscalculia and math learning disorder.
    • Andy Farmer – Online Theology/Spiritual Life Course from Baylor University Continuing Education program
    • Sarah Chitwood, Innovation Instructor,  Marianne Haferkamp, kindergarten Instructor, and Megan Trumpler, fifth grade instructor, all attended the Future of Education Technology Conference together with Munnerlyn and Beaches Campus faculty. They uncovered trends and themes in the future of tech ed, including immersive learning through AR/VR, STEAM+, and adaptive learning tools.
    • Cary Benefield, Director of Pre-Primary, traveled to Orlando, Florida for the FCIS Early Childhood Institute Conference. The moving keynote speaker talked about how educators can be a part of the solution to mental health, substance abuse, and even violence in schools by teaching social and emotional intelligence.
    • Nancy Prendergast took a teaching AP Latin course  
    • Josephine Sanchez took Train the Trainer: Maximizing Comprehensive Input with the Target Language; Thanks for the Feedback Book Study
    • Seventeen teachers participated in the RPDS Diversity event led by Rosetta Lee. Lower School teachers took part in the Early Childhood and Elementary school sessions while the teachers from the Munnerlyn Campus participated in the sessions that apply to Middle and Upper Schools. 
    • Seven math teachers participated in a Bureau of Education and Research online session on helping students who fall behind in math skills. There is something available and applicable for every grade level.
    • Jackie Jenkins participated in an online Workshop:  Tulsa Race Riots presented by the Education Department at the U of Missouri through the Carter Center at the University of Missouri 
    • Boys lacrosse coaches received “Box Lacrosse Training Certification”

AP Reading/Workshops/Seminars attended during the summer:

    • Cathy Kanaday attended an AP Literary & Composition workshop offered by College Board 
    • Amy Burrows Perkins ’92, Director of Student Services,  attended the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) Summer Conference Session.
    • Wrestling Coaches invited a coach to campus to do a clinic called “Beebe Trained Wrestling Academy” 
    • Taylor Lee Horne ’00, Performing Arts Department Chair and Upper School Theatre Director, and Dawn Morrow, Director of Dance, participated in professional development classes this summer with The Juilliard School. Taylor Horne attended “Coaching Monologues: An Immersive Lab for Theatre Educators,” and Dawn Morrow attended “Infusing Dance Technique Classes with Student-Centered Learning.” 
    • Mark Zimmerman was a reader for AP Photography & Digital Media exams
    • Alexander Hernandez attended the 2021 SAIS Institute for New Teachers at Providence Day School in Charlotte, NC 
    • Emily Edmonson was a reader of AP Government exams
    • Lara Duguid was a reader for AP European History exams
    • Lara Duguid attended a workshop for AP World History 
    • David Wandel was a reader for AP Environmental Science exams
    • Farah Barake attended a workshop for AP French
    • Cathy Kanaday and Emily Edmonson (English and History Chairs, respectively) organized a workshop for new faculty members in their departments to support their learning of how teach in the Harkness Method. 
    • Diane Bates attended the Adobe for Education Summit in July
    • Caitlin Fitzpatrick attended the “Teaching Shakespeare is Teaching Race” workshop in July through the Folger Shakespeare Library: https://www.folger.edu/teaching-shakespeare-is-teaching-race 
    • Dr. Derrick King enrolled in a course through the Harvard Graduate School of Education in May and June called “Deeper than Edutainment: Taking Books and Their Film Adaptations Seriously”: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe/program/deeper-edutainment-taking-books-and-their-film-adaptations-seriously 
    • Alex Hernandez and Teesha Renninger both attended the SAIS New Faculty Institute in Atlanta in July
    • Julie Carter attended the ACCIS Summer Institute: https://www.accisnet.org/programs
    • Debbie Deppe is engaged with ISTE Live throughout the year to continue with PD in respect to technology in the classroom: https://conference.iste.org/2022/
    • Justin Weise, Alex Nichols, and Jefferson Brant completed professional development in US History through the Gilder Lehrman Institute 
    • The History Department engaged in an entire day of professional development in the Harkness Method in August, facilitated by Dr. William Jordan, who is on the faculty at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire (the original institution that pioneered the Harkness Method).
    • The English Department also engaged in their own day of Harkness Method training In August with Becky Moore, a faculty member at Philips Exeter.

Professional Development Activities

August 2020 

Cultural Competency

Faculty and staff participated in Cultural Competency and Civil Discourse training in August during professional development before the start of school. Presenters from UNF’s Department of Diversity Initiatives hosted small group discussions on Cultural Competency for faculty and staff, covering such topics as the difference between diversity and inclusion, equality and equity.

The discussion groups had a chance to reflect on and share the extent to which the Episcopal community has embraced both diversity and inclusion in our effort to “respect the dignity of every human being.” Similarly, participants explored affirming language, and completed a “What Next?” activity.  Facilitators for the discussion were Sheila Spivey, Senior Director of the Department of Diversity Initiatives (DDI) at the University of North Florida, and Brandi Winfrey, Associate Director of the DDI at the University of North Florida, who leads the Intercultural Center for Peace and the Student Alliance for Inclusion and Diversity.

Civil Discourse

Civil Discourse training was provided to faculty before the start of school by Kyle Reese and Nancy Broner from OneJax, an interfaith organization on the UNF campus. A small group of ESJ teachers were trained in advance to act as facilitators of discussion small groups for all faculty and staff. As part of this community-wide education, participants learned how best to engage in a conversation or dialogue in order to better understand another person, as well as how to actively listen to someone with different opinions. The Civil Discourse Team put together some Community Norms to serve as a toolbox for healthy, productive, civil conversations in and out of the classroom.

Professional Development Activities

July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020 

Stop the Bleed – Facilitator – Brian K. Yorkgitis, DO, FACS Pediatric Trauma Medical Director, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Acute Care Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville – All Faculty & Staff

The ‘Stop the Bleed’ campaign was initiated by a federal inter-agency workgroup convened by the National Security Council Staff, The White House.  The purpose of the campaign is to build national resilience by better preparing the public to save lives by raising awareness of basic actions to stop life threatening bleeding following everyday emergencies and man-made and natural disasters.  Advances made by military medicine and research in hemorrhage control during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have informed the work of this initiative which exemplifies translation of knowledge back to the homeland to the benefit of the general public.

Anti Defamation Leagues Training – All Faculty and Staff

Four facilitators from the Florida chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) came to the Munnerlyn campus in January to lead ESJ, Beaches Episcopal School, and St. Mark’s Episcopal Day School faculty and staff in its “A World of Difference” training program. In preparation for this workshop, participants worked in small groups to discuss White Fragility, read magazine articles, watched and discussed a TedTalk by current ESJ parent Dr. Tammy Hodo, and listened to a related podcast.

AP Four Day Workshops:

Rebecca Howes, AP Spanish Literature & Culture

Lucy Lee, World Language & Cultures

Matthew Shriver, French

Margie Stevens, AP Computer Science

Kiara Wessling, AP Psychology

Meg Wickenden, AP Biology

AP Readers:

Lara Duguid, AP European History

Emily Farmer, AP US Government

Andy Hostetler, AP Statistics

Kelby Siddons, AP English Language

Kate Wallis, AP English Language

Mark Zimmerman, AP Photography

Josephine Sanchez, AP Spanish (Table Lead)

Graduate Degrees or Certificates:

Marty Baugh

Jenny Dulaney

Natalie Herford

Tara Kneale

Emily Manning Sloan

Philippa Marks

Shelly Long de Mendoza

Stephanie Schuster

Online Courses:

Virtual Online Faculty Development – All Faculty 

Numerous Webinars:

Remote Learning/Teaching – All Faculty

Diversity

Civil Discourse

Social Justice

Book Studies:

Powerful Teaching – Faculty

White Fragility – Faculty & Staff

Other Conferences & Activities:

FCIS Conference; Developing Culture & Language: Using Authentic Material Workshop; Foreign Language for Everyone Book Study; Powerful Teaching Book Study – Josephine Sanchez

Adobe Max Conference – Diane Bates

ACTFL 2019 Annual World Language Expo – Lucia Allen, Carolina Collins

FCIS Conference – Early Childhood Institute – Presenter, Nitza Plaski

FCIS Conference – Kacey Johnston

World Religions World Church Conference – Emily Manning Sloan

Art Basel Miami Beach Conference – Mark Zimmerman

CSPA Fall Conference – Leah Glotzbach

FAEA Annual Conference – Rebecca Hoadley, Michelle Krueger

FETC Conference 2020 – Debbie Deppe, Scott Givonetti, Tracy Jester, Tom Lavelle

IATSE 14th District Annual Convention – Megan Elsila

60th Annual Conference & Stage Expo – Colton Spurlock

Student Success in Writing Conference – Kacey Johnston

FMEA 2020 Conference & All-State Choirs – Carolyn Tuttle & Anthony Felton

NAES Diversity & Inclusion Conference – Emily Farmer

2020 Introduction to Modeling Instruction in Biology – Arianne Leary

ASCA “One Vision, One Voice” Conference – Justin Martin

NAES Conference – Fashioning Our Lives:  Chaplains, Self-Care and Spiritual Renewal – Andy Farmer

Percussive Arts Society International Convention – Greg Hersey

Virtual International Thespian Festival 2020 – Taylor Horne

POGIL – Sally Russo

First Aid & CPR Training – Nick Crider, DaShaun Gibbons, Krista Grabher, Henry Hamilton

Gilder-Lehrman classes on specific topics relating to teaching American History – Jefferson Brant, Emily Farmer, Alex Nichols, Margie Stevens

BER (Bureau of Education & Research):

Tonya Carter, School Nurses

Carolina Collins, Lucia Allen – World Languages Summit

2018 Lastinger Summer Scholars

Katherine Snyder – England

Elizabeth Simpson Walton '71 Fund for Coaches' Professional Development

Coaches Take Advantage of Best Professional Development Opportunities

History: Natalie Hereford – AP World History Exam Leadership Team

College Counseling: Ryan Riggs Co-Chairs SACAC Program, Andrea Rizzi Visits Washington State Schools, Ryan Riggs Attends Southern Consortium,

English: Teachers Attend Phillips Exeter Academy Humanities Institute

Dr. Kate Pritchard Wins Scholarship to Attend Seminar in Germany

AP Exams

Josephine Sanchez, AP Spanish (Table Lead)

2017 Lastinger Summer Scholars

The Rev. Teresa Seagle – Holy Land

Rebecca Hoadley – Ireland

Jessica Snapp – Argentina

Computer Science:
Tom Lavelle, AP Summer Institute for Computer Science principles, Orlando
Tom Lavelle, Online AP Principles on Mobile Device

English:
Chad Senesac- AP Workshop for AP Language & Composition, Jax
Cathy Kanaday, AP Workshop for AP Language & Composition, Jax
Harkness workshop for English Teachers, at ESJ

Fine Arts Faculty & Staff Professional Development

History:
Christina Milon- Stanford U. Core Practices for Inquiry-Based History Teaching,CA
Mary Hunt- Project-Based Learning (PBL), CA.
Department: Harkness Workshop for History teachers at ESJ
Alex Nichols – “Econ in the Real World: Hamilton, History & the Federal Reserve” offered by the Federal Reserve of Atlanta

Mathematics:
Brenda Vermillion- Project-Based Learning (PBL), CA.

Science:
Marion Zeiner- STEM Conference in Kissimmee, FL.
Sally Russo, AP Chemistry Workshop, Jacksonville

World Languages:
Lucy Lee, Nancy Predergast, Carolina Collins,Lucia Allen- TPRS Workshop, Jax
Gwen Miranda- Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling or TPRS (NTPRS), San Antonio
Josephine Sanchez, AP Read for Spanish Language and Culture Exam for College Board

Athletics:
Andy Kidd, Chip Stroud, Kasse Eppley – FHSAA Seminar, including workshops on NCAA requirements, compliance and education and mentoring for coaches

Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS)Institute for New Teachers
Caitlyn Fitzpatrick
Courtney Flerlage
Shelly Long
David Schwei
Tom Lavelle
Arianne Leary
Tess Sturgeon