Speakers

Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad has served as a classroom middle school teacher, reading specialist, literacy coach, curriculum director and school board president. Currently, she is an Associate Professor of Language and Literacy at Georgia State University. She also serves as the director of the GSU Urban Literacy Collaborative & Clinic. She studies Black historical excellence within educational communities with goals of reframing curriculum and instruction today. Dr. Muhammad’s scholarship has appeared in leading educational journals and books. She has received numerous national awards. She also works with teachers and young people across the United States and South Africa in best practices in equity, anti-racism and culturally & historically responsive instruction. She is the author of the best-selling book, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Model for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy.

Dr. Ashelin R. Currie is a literacy advocate, consultant, and leader who strives to make a world a better place through working with and motivating others to learn, grow, and be passionate about reading and writing. Prior to working with Oakland Schools, Dr. Currie served for seventeen years teaching students in a low-income, ethnically and linguistically diverse community. She was a general education teacher for six years, an elementary reading specialist for seven years, and a literacy coach and Multi-Tiered Support Systems coordinator. In addition to her work at the elementary and middle school level, she has taught courses at Oakland University, Saginaw Valley State University, and Mott Community College.

Dr. Currie obtained her doctorate in Reading and Language Arts with a concentration in emergent literacy from Oakland University in Michigan. She earned her Master of Arts in Reading Education degree from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Appalachian State University in North Carolina. Dr. Currie also earned National Board Teacher Certification in the area of Early and Middle Childhood/Literacy: Reading Language Arts.

Her expertise is utilizing African American children’s literature as an aesthetic, spiritual, and intellectual tool for growing children and improving their academic achievement. Dr. Currie’s influence extends to children, families, churches, community organizations to impact the literacy lives of children beyond the school walls.

Robert E. Dozier IV. an educator, parent, mentor, and coach in Holt Public Schools. Robert is also the chairperson of the Holt Equity and Access Team (H.E.A.T) Systems committee. He has developed specialized courses focused on African American Heritage within the United States of America and currently teaching them at Holt High School.

Jodie Duda has been a teacher at Troy High School in Troy, MI for 22 years and is currently teaching freshmen and sophomores. She is committed to using literature as a lens to the world, empowering her learners to question, critique, and celebrate as they discover the power of their voices.

David G. Hornak, Ed.D. has lived and worked in Holt, MI for the past twenty-seven years. As an employee of Holt Public Schools, he has taught young fives, kindergarten, first grade, and Reading Recovery. Hornak was promoted 13 years ago, as he became the instructional leader (principal) of Horizon Elementary. Horizon is a year-round school, which operates on the balanced school calendar. Hornak has presented over 100 times to school boards, district officials, community groups, and PTO groups across the world regarding the alternative calendar and wellness initiatives such as the Walking School Bus. His dissertation titled The Impact of Summer Recess on Mathematical Learning Retention, which was selected in 2016 as national dissertation of the year by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration, further supports the need for school officials interested in minimizing the summer learning loss to consider the balanced school calendar. In April of 2015, Hornak was named Executive Director of the National Association for Year-Round Education. In July 2015, Hornak was promoted to serve as the superintendent of schools in Holt. Hornak and his partner Anne are the proud parents of daughter Olivia and son Maxwell.

Ann Kaskinen is the Michigan eLibrary Engagement Specialist, K-12. Ann began her career teaching high school English, social studies, and public speaking. After earning a library degree from Central Michigan University, she worked for 16 years as a K-12 Library-Media Specialist. Ann also had experiences as an ISD consultant, teen librarian for a public library, and an internship working with government documents.

Kathy Lester is a School Librarian at East Middle School in Plymouth, Michigan. She is a current board member and past-president of the Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) and a member of the Michigan Library Association (MLA) Legislative Committee. Kathy has also been a member of state-level committees in Michigan such as the Michigan Department of Education’s Learning at a Distance Task Force, the Michigan #GoOpen Strategy Team, the Michigan ESSA Tactical Review Committee, the State Educational Technology Plan Update Workgroup, as well as the REMC Media Literacy and Digital Citizenship (MLDC) Initiative Team. She is a member of the American Library Association (ALA) Committee for Library Advocacy (COLA) and the ALA Library Ecosystem Subcommittee. She is an active member and past board member of the American Association for School Libraries (AASL).

Jill Maneice is a 15-year public educator and life-long learner. Graduating from Oakland University, Jill was a classroom teacher in urban and suburban high schools and worked at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center before joining Oakland Schools (OS). At OS, she partners primarily with secondary educators and students around accelerating reading comprehension and leads the Adolescent Accelerated Reading Initiative (AARI), a comprehension-focused reading intervention. Most recently, Jill read and recommends YA novel A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow. It “{m}asterfully blends the real lives of Black girls in contemporary Portland with a mythic world of sirens, gargoyles, and other supernatural creatures.” – Rebecca Roanhorse

Val Valentino has been a teacher at Troy High School in Troy, MI for nine years and has taught AP English Language and Composition for almost as long. She is committed to making her classroom a space where students develop social consciousness, gain agency, and learn to wield language to subvert systems of power.