Maureen Connolly was an English teacher at Mineola High School, in NY for 15 years.  She currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in secondary education for the School of Education at The College of New Jersey and is a consultant for CBK Associates.  Maureen’s research interests include service learning, assessment, and mentoring, and engaging teaching methods.  Her latest publication is the coauthored ASCD book, Achieving Next Generation Literacy: Using the Tests (You Think) You Hate to Teach the Students You Love (2016).

Joshua Feliciano currently lives in Mounds View, Minnesota and is currently attending Irondale High School. He loves to write about his own experiences in life and tends to write in his own perspective as well as others. Next year, Joshua plans to focus on the National Guard and start off his adulthood with a military path. He also has many dreams of what he wants to achieve in life besides a military path. He also wants to become an electrician so he works hard to fulfill what he intends to reach for in the skies above. Growing up, Joshua has had a troubled path wherever he used to live–a path he didn’t want to walk in but had to—but now he focuses on the bigger things slowly constructing his new path with a cleaner environment. He has high hopes for the world he plans to build inside his mind—slow but steady wins the race.

Vicky Giouroukakis, PhD, has spent a combined twenty years teaching English and English as a Second Language at the high school level and English methods and TESOL at the college level. Her research interests include assessment and instruction, disciplinary literacy, and diversity, and her work has been featured in books and scholarly journals. Vicky’s latest publication is the coauthored ASCD book, Achieving Next Generation Literacy: Using the Tests (You Think) You Hate to Teach the Students You Love (2016).

Alexandra Glynn lives in Eden Prairie and Park Rapids and teaches English at Bemidji State as an adjunct. She earned an MA in English Literature and an MA in Old Testament Theology.

Melanie Magaña marches to the beat of her own drum, wherever that may lead. Although she has constructed an elaborate fantasy life into which she can escape from the meretricious corporate world, she emphatically knows the difference between the two. One day you’ll find her on the high seas, pirating on her ship The Jolly Rogering; until then, she can be reached at makmagana@hotmail.com.

Lyndi Maxwell is currently the Gifted Coordinator/Teacher at Alexander Local School District in Albany, Ohio.  She has taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade, and holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction from Ohio University.  Additionally, she holds a Master’s degree in Exceptional Students, a Reading Endorsement, and a Gifted Intervention Specialist License. While she enjoys teaching all subjects, her true passion and specialty is the teaching of writing.  She is actively involved in education research, publishing, and presenting on both the national and state level, primarily on children’s writing development. Her published work can be found in the journal Childhood Education as well as online at ohiolink.edu. She can be reached at lmaxwell@alexanderschools.org.

Summer Melody Pennell is an Assistant Professor of English Education at Truman State University. She teaches courses in the Master of Arts in Education program in Secondary English, as well as courses in Young Adult Literature and critical theories. Her research interests include teacher education, critical literacy, social justice education, and queer theory and pedagogy.

Sharon Rudnicki is Chair of the English Department and teaches Middle and Upper School English at The Agnes Irwin School, an all-girls’ school in Rosemont PA. She holds a BA and MA in English from The University of Pennsylvania. Email her at srudnicki@agnesirwin.org.

Brittany Stojsavljevic is a writer and editor for the Marketing, Insights and Communications Department at the University of St. Thomas. She is a current graduate student at St. Thomas, and graduated in 2011 from Ohio Wesleyan University with majors in English and journalism.