• Liz Anderson
  
• Nate Pardun
  

• Hillary Gingerich
• Kristen Westpheling

Liz
Anderson

Liz Anderson has been teaching for 14 years. Liz is passionate for lower elementary education and specifically math instruction. Over her career Liz has taught kindergarten, 2nd grade, 1st grade, been a math instructional coach and now is an Assistant Principal at two elementaries ranging in Preschool—4th grade students. Most of her teaching has been with the ADM school district at Adel Elementary and Meadow View Elementary. She also taught 4 years internationally at Frankfurt International School with 2nd grade in Frankfurt, Germany.

Over her teaching career Liz has gained many experiences and opportunities supporting young learners with mathematics. She supported her district through a math curriculum reset where the leadership team worked together to identify what teachers and students need to do for exemplary mathematics instruction. The team then identified curriculums that met this vision to pilot across all grade levels. Liz then led the lower elementaries in a successful roll out of Illustrative Mathematics.When Liz moved into her Assistant Principal role she was able to stretch out her impact on elementary mathematics students. She has worked with special education teams to identify resources to use for intervention instruction. In addition she supported grades 2-4 rolling out Building Fact Fluency Kits to support fluency instruction for Tier 1.

Liz has her BA in Elementary Education from Iowa State University. She received her MA in Educational Leadership from University of Iowa. She is certified in Elementary Education K-6 with reading/language arts K-8 and PK-12 Principal / PK-12 Special Education Supervisor (Evaluator).

Kelsey
Feldmann

Kelsey Feldmann has devoted her career to helping students and teachers discover the joy and power of mathematics for the last 15 years. Her 9 years of teaching experience in the Linn-Mar and Iowa City School Districts included teaching at both the elementary and middle school levels, as well as serving as a building MTSS Coordinator, PBIS Coach, Cooperating Teacher, and Instructional Coach.

Building on that experience, Kelsey went on to serve as an Elementary Math Curriculum Coordinator for the Iowa City Community School District for 4 years, where she led professional development initiatives and coached K–6 teachers across 22 schools. Her leadership extended statewide through service on the Statewide Math Leadership Team and the Iowa Math Standards Revision Committee.

Today, Kelsey continues to advance mathematics education as a Mathematics Test Development Associate with Iowa Testing Programs at the University of Iowa College of Education. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, with a K-8 Mathematics endorsement from the University of Iowa, and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership with PK-12 Principalship and PK-12 Special Education Supervisor endorsements from the University of Northern Iowa. She is guided by a firm belief that students from all backgrounds are capable of learning, and enjoying, mathematics when intentional, student-centered teaching practices are in place.

Hillary Gingerich

Hillary serves as an Instructional Coach at Oskaloosa Elementary, supporting teachers from preschool through fifth grade in all content areas, with a special focus on mathematics. Over the past eight years as a coach, she has led her building through a variety of professional learning experiences, including book studies on Building Thinking Classrooms, Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All, and Gina Kling’s Math Fact Fluency.

Hillary has guided her staff through the implementation of the shifts in the Iowa Core and, most recently, the Iowa Academic Standards for Mathematics. In addition to her coaching role, Hillary serves on both the district and school leadership teams and contributes to several other leadership initiatives within her organization. She is passionate about creating a learning environment where teachers are equipped with effective, research-based strategies to deliver high-quality mathematics instruction—empowering every student to see themselves as a mathematician.

Barbara
Knox

Barbara Knox has been teaching for 40 years. Thirty-nine of those years were in Hillsborough County, Florida. She is currently teaching 6th grade Math Intervention at Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy in Cedar Rapids. Barbara earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Illinois Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in teaching mathematics K-8 from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She is certified in K-6 teaching and 6-8 mathematics.

Barbara provides concrete experiences for her students to explore mathematics concepts. Students learn through problem solving and mathematical discourse as they develop understanding of new ideas/concepts.

Barbara spent most of her career working in and with elementary schools. She has taught grades Kindergarten through Grade 7 during her career. She also worked for 14 years as a site-based Mathematics Coach at five different elementary schools, and then for five years as a District Mathematics Coach supporting 22 elementary schools within the district.

Barbara has developed and presented professional development at the district, state and national level. She has created and led many district trainings, has presented at 15 Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Conferences, and has presented at a National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional and one NCTM National Conference. Barbara helped develop Florida's first Common Core Institute and then presented the week-long training at four different locations across the state. Barbara was also part of the development team and the presentation team for two Math Science Partnership 80-hour institutes (Number and Operations and Geometry and Measurement) with the University of South Florida and Hillsborough and Polk County school districts.

NaTE
pARDUN

My name is Nate Pardun, and I currently serve as the assistant high school principal with the Denison Community Schools. I received my bachelor's in K-6 elementary education from Buena Vista University. A few years later I received a master's in K-12 educational leadership from Northwest Missouri State University. Prior to my role in administration, I had various teaching experiences at the elementary level ranging from kindergarten through fifth grade. I have been a classroom teacher for kindergarten, third grade, and fifth grade. Over two years I also served as a teacher for 4-5 newcomer language learners, and now a desire to be involved in educational leadership has led me to my current position as an assistant high school principal.

For the last two years, I have served as an at-large representative for the Iowa Council of Teachers of Mathematics. My primarily roles within the council have been serving on the conference committee and serving as a co-chair for conference vendors/exhibitors. Over the last several years, I have also been a member on the School of Education Advisory Committee for Buena Vista University where we work collaboratively with university leadership to ensure pre-service educators are prepared for the realities of working in education. I have been a professional member of ICTM for three years now and led a session on student-centered mathematical learning environments at the 2023 conference. Recently, I also became a member of the School Administrators of Iowa as I have begun my new adventure as an assistant principal.

Who I am as a math educator has shifted with my new position. Previously, I was boots on the ground, delivering high-quality mathematics instruction to elementary aged students. I now have the privilege as a school leader of helping foster the value in leading students toward conceptual mathematical understanding in student-centered learning environments. My passion for math has carried over to the secondary level where I strive to help educators build classroom experiences in which students can find the joy in mathematics even as they grapple with algebra, trigonometry, statistics, and calculus. Students of all ages deserve learning opportunities to make mistakes and have playful experiences with numbers. It is my mission to assist all educators in finding the value of this mindset.

Anna
Scholl

Anna Scholl is a mathematics educator with 20 years of varied experience, including 11 years of teaching between Texas and Iowa and 8 years of tutoring. After 8 years of teaching high school mathematics in Cedar Rapids, Anna became a K-5 mathematics curriculum developer with Amplify Education. She is now an interaction developer for Amplify, helping to design and code digital interactions for math curriculum resources. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from LeTourneau University and a Master’s in Education degree in Educational Technology from Iowa State University.

As a teacher, Anna aimed to create a classroom environment supportive of all students, utilizing a mix of teaching methods, with a focus on methods engaging students in constructing meaning through inquiry based learning and incorporating the mathematical practices. Anna encouraged students to recognize their own math brilliance and see struggle as an opportunity for learning and growth.

Anna has been a part of the Desmos Fellow program since its creation in 2016. As part of the program, Anna has presented at state and regional conferences on integrating the Desmos activity builder to support students’ mathematical learning, and created and shared activities with other teachers nationwide. Anna continues this work with Amplify, now presenting on how the free resources within the platform can be utilized to support cognitively guided instruction for elementary mathematics.