Welcome New Faculty!
Source/Author: Raffi Darrow, Ebytes Editor
August 19, 2016
Shorecrest is excited to announce changes and new additions to our faculty and staff for the 2016-2017 school year. First, here are some familiar names and where you'll now find them:
- Mrs. Dominique Craft has returned after her maternity leave as Lower School Dean of Curriculum and Instruction.
- Ms. Katy Deegan has shifted from second grade teacher to LS Educational Technologist.
- Mrs. Allison Hawley shifted from third Grade teacher to Kindergarten teacher. View a spotlight on Shorecrest kindergarten and the incredible teaching team here.
- Dianna Tucker shifted from LS Dean of Curriculum back into the classroom as second grade teacher.
- Gabby Steiner, R.N. is a new nurse in the Clinic on Mondays.
- Richie Cameron was a MS Health and PE Teacher, and is now the US Health and PE Teacher.
- Steve Lowe returns to Shorecrest as a Maintenance Technician. You'll mostly find him around Landy Hall, the Janet Root Theatre and the library.
- Sarah (Moebius) Anderson returned to the US Math department.
Newcomers
Experiential School | |
Taylor Styke is a new Alpha Teaching Assistant with Mrs. Carson in The Experiential School. She joins us after serving two years as an AmeriCorps volunteer teacher at Academy Prep middle school in St. Petersburg. There she taught girls P.E. and coached volleyball, baseball and girls flag football. She is a graduate of Eckerd College with a Bachelors degree in Human Development. She also played softball for the Eckerd College Tritons. Taylor has a passion for dogs and is currently raising a Southeastern Guide Dog named Chloe. | |
Lower School | |
Natalye Horne is excited to be teaching second grade at Shorecrest. She recently moved here from Kansas. "I come from a very strong educational background. My father is a school administrator in Queens, NY, and my mother is a college professor in Marion, AL. I had never been to Florida until moving here back in July, and I love it. I grew up in Minnesota so I’ll be looking forward to no snow come winter time." Natalye graduated from Central Methodist University in Fayette, MO, where she played basketball while attaining a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She has been teaching fifth grade in Topeka, KS, for the past three years, while coaching a girl’s high school basketball team. | |
Colette Husenitza, a St. Pete local, was part of the first graduating class from the Pinellas County Center for the Arts program at Gibbs Senior High School. A National Board Certified Teacher in Early and Middle Childhood/Literacy, this will be her sixteenth year teaching. She has spent most of the last 15 years teaching third grade, and has also taught first, second, and fifth grades. At Shorecrest she is teaching in the fourth grade. "I am a strong believer in growth mindset," she explains. "Growth mindset basically means all children can learn. The newest brain research has dispelled the myth that people are born with innate abilities and deficits. In other words, all humans are born with the same capacity to learn math, language arts, etc. What makes the difference is exposure and practice. I strive to create a positive classroom that facilitates this mindset." Colette's husband is a chef who works in business dining and they have a 16 year old daughter, Hannah. | |
Miriam Pardoll joins The Learning Center as Learning Center Coordinator for The Experiential School and Lower School. She has a Master's Degree in Special Education from the University of Massachusetts and a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education from Boston University. She has over twenty years experience working in public and private schools in Massachusetts and Florida. She has worked as a classroom teacher and learning specialist in addition to developing a learning center. Miriam also teaches other educators through professional development and college students at St Petersburg College. | |
Khana Rebman '05 joined us from Pinellas County schools, where she had been teaching in 2nd-5th grades. She served as a demonstration teacher for the County, allowing teachers from different schools to observe the implementation of educational best practices. She was also a model teacher for the Marzano model of teaching and evaluation. In 2015, Khana was awarded Teacher of the Year at Gulfport Elementary as well as Teacher of the Month by the Nancy Cavey Law Office. She served as a mentor, tutor and after school program leader. Khana is a Shorecrest Charger alumna from the Class of 2005. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Development from Connecticut College and her Master’s in Elementary Education from the University of New Hampshire. She is a sister of the sorority Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. Khana is a 5-month newlywed, married to Michael Rebman, Principal of Azalea Elementary. She has two children: Chauncey and Anabella. She enjoys singing, dancing, and lives by the mottos, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” and “Be the change you want to see in the world”. | |
John Schiaparelli earned a BA from California State University, Los Angeles, in Social Sciences, and a teaching certificate in Secondary Social Studies from Montclair State University in New Jersey in 1996. John and his wife have lived in NJ, CA, WI, MA, CT, NE, Toronto, AZ and Florida. As a stay-at-home Dad in most of those locations, John spent lots of time volunteering at his daughters' schools. The last time the Schiaparelli family live in Florida, John climbed the ranks at Shorecrest from Room Parent to substitute to full time Kindergarten Instructional Assistant, where he now returns. "If I had known how much I enjoy elementary education, I would have started there at the beginning. I love the instant feedback you get from younger students and seeing their amazing progress in short periods of time," he said. | |
Middle School | |
Harry Powers is our new seventh grade Life Science teacher. He came to us from upstate New York. Before that, he taught in New Jersey and across the bay at Tampa Prep. Outside of the classroom, Mr. Powers has led class trips to the Keys and exchange trips to Germany. Along with teaching, Mr. Powers has a passion for soccer coaching. One of his daughters, Chloe, is in sixth grade at Shorecrest. | |
Upper School | |
Jorden Sanders joins us from Washington, DC, where she has been a Teaching Assistant in the Georgetown University Community Scholars Program and an Instructor in Georgetown University Institute for College Preparation. In both programs, she taught high school-aged students with a particular focus on effective essay development, stylistic choices and grammar usage. Both programs have given her considerable experience in the teaching of writing and analysis. Jorden earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Westminster College and her Master’s in English from Georgetown. She will teach a mix of sophomore and junior English classes. | |
Sidy Ndiaye, our new US World Language Teacher, is teaching four sections of French and one of Spanish as well as sponsoring the French Club. He arrived this summer with his teen sons from his native Senegal, where he has been teaching both French and English as a Second Language to middle and upper school Senegalese students. He has also taught French to American students in the Global Citizen Year program, a gap-year program with bases in four countries around the world. Sidy speaks Wolof, French, English and Spanish, and he holds the US educational equivalent of a Master's in Foreign Language and Bachelor’s degree in English and English Literature, and a second Bachelor’s in Foreign Language Education awarded by the University of Dakar. Sidy is eager to build ties between Shorecrest and the high school in Senegal where he taught, something that would greatly enrich both schools. | |
Staff | |
Joan Hollifield joined Shorecrest in January 2016, as Advancement/Admissions Information Services Director/Systems Analyst. Joan has spent time during the past six years as a consultant to Shorecrest, working on various projects within several departments. Joan is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Florida State University. Her background includes auditing, accounting and finance, primarily within the healthcare and not-for-profit sectors. | |
Charlene Ptacek is a Florida native who joined us to manage our accounts payable. She previously worked for a property management company as an Accountant. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. | |
Brian Steele, our new Associate Director of Admissions, most recently served as Assistant Director of Admissions for Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, before coming to Shorecrest. He was employed as Assistant Director of Admissions for Saint Leo University’s Adult Education Center in Tampa prior to his time with Berklee, and he found a passion for primary school education while teaching 6th and 8th grade students for Hillsborough County Public Schools before beginning his career in Admissions. Brian earned a Bachelor of Arts from University of South Florida, as well as a Master’s in Education with a Specialization in ESE from Saint Leo University. He also holds a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design from Saint Leo University. | |
Amy Wiley joined Shorecrest as Administrative Assistant to the Advancement Office and Transform Capital Campaign. She previously worked at Miami Country Day School in Summer Programs and prior to that in the legal field. She grew up in NC and holds a BS in Communications from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. This is Amy’s first year as a Charger mom. Her son Alexander is in fourth grade and she also has a 2- year old son, Austin. She is very excited to be a part of the Shorecrest family. |