2007-2008 TNLI Fellows:

 
     Amy_Clark        Christiana_Cavaliere        Tracie_Davis    
        Amy Clark    Christiana Cavaliere     Tracie Davis 

     Narineh_Gharashor        Debra_Harland        Gale_Harris   
 Nerineh Gharashor   Debra Harland          Gale Harris     

     Leah_Radinsky        Lucy_Klocksin        Sabrina_Silverstein    
   Leah Radinksy         Lucy Klocksin    Sabrina Silverstein 
 
     Monica_Sims        Rebecca_Zimmerman        Nicole_Zumpano    
     Monica Sims   Rebecca Zimmerman   Nicole Zumpano


CONGRATULATIONS TO THIS YEAR'S FELLOWS!

 

Amy Clark has been a teacher in a dual-language setting (Spanish-English) in Chicago Public Schools since she moved to the city in 1999. She enjoys working and collaborating on educational projects with others who also see education as a process that empowers all involved to ultimately create positive social change. She has worked with groups and on projects around curriculum writing, second language acquisition, alternative assessment and social justice teaching in Chicago. She has also been fortunate enough to travel in Mexico, South America and Spain on trips related to these projects.

 

She has degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Colorado at Boulder.  She currently teachers first grade at Whittier Elementary School located in the neighborhood of Pilsen in Chicago. 

 
     
 
Christiana Cavaliere earned her BA in History from the University of Rhode Island. She taught kindergarten and first grade as New York City Teaching Fellow, while working towards her Master’s degree in Childhood Education from Brooklyn College. She moved to Chicago last year where she began teaching second grade at Galapagos Charter School. Now in her fourth year of teaching, she is part of a study group supported by The Rochelle Lee Fund and is a selector for the Chicago Teaching Fellows.
 
     
 
Tracie Davis has been with the Chicago Public Schools for the past 12 years. During this time she has taught Kindergarten-8th grade in various capacities during, before, and after school.  She served three years as a school-wide Reading Specialist and Literacy Coordinator.  She also worked for the district office as an Early Literacy and Family Literacy Coordinator for a federally funded grant.  Tracie is currently the Director or the Early Childhood Center at the Branch of South Loop Elementary School and is the Assistant Principal of South Loop Elementary School.

 

Tracie has won awards from the Chicago Foundation for Education, Donor’s Choose, Kohl’s Children’s Museum, and the Rochelle Lee Fund.  She led a Literacy Study Group in her school.  She was a graduate of Academy XV of the National Staff Development Council.  This is a highly competitive distinction for staff developers.  Tracie is currently a candidate for National Board Certification. 
 
Tracie received her B.A. from Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH with a major in Elementary and Special Education.  She earned her M.Ed. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in Instructional Leadership:  Reading, Writing, and Literacy.  She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction.  Her primary research interests include: the portrayal of fathers in multicultural children’s literature, father and daughter literacy relationships, collaborative curriculum units between students and teachers, and children’s response to text.
 
     
 
Narineh Gharashor earned her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education at California Sate University of Los Angeles, where she taught primary grades for six years.  Her other experiences include teaching ESL to at-risk youth, educational consulting, and directing an international organization in the Republic of Armenia. 

 

Upon her return to United States, Narineh earned a teaching certificate and her Masters in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University.  Currently, she serves as a support person for new teachers of Inner City Teaching Corps and is completing a second Masters program at Roosevelt University in Educational Leadership.  She is in her third year of teaching for Chicago Public Schools.
 
     
 
Inspired by volunteering at her sons elementary school, Debra Harland came to teaching as a second career after twenty-five years in the business world. She returned to college and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. Since then she has received her Masters of Arts in Special Education. She is currently in her fourth year of teaching for the Chicago Public Schools in a self-contained, cross-categorical classroom at New Field Primary. She has won grants and participated in study groups with the Chicago Foundation for Education and The Golden Apple Foundation. She has also written and won grants from Donors Choose that have benefited her students and her classroom.
 
     
 
Gale A. Harris became a teacher in Chicago Public Schools 21 years ago after receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education.  She earned her bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University in 1986 with a double major in elementary and special education. She earned her Master of Arts degree in Administration & Supervision, in 1989, from Roosevelt University as well. She taught regular education, grades 1-7, during her first eight years of teaching. Afterwards, she began teaching special education.  She is certified in the areas of cognitive delays, learning disabilities and social-emotional disorders.

In 2006, Gale became a National Board Certified teacher with a certificate in the area of Exceptional Needs. She provides mentoring services to candidates through the Quest Center. She is also a recipient of the Chicago Foundation for Education Study Group Grant, which will allow her to teach hands on Math skills to her students through ScrapBook Math activities. Gale currently teaches special education at Carroll-Rosenwald School on Chicago’s south side.  She is a strong advocate of inclusive services for students with special needs.
 
     
 
Leah Radinsky became a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools fifteen years ago, when she began teaching kindergarten and preschool at Inter-American Magnet School, a dual-language school. She has also taught first grade at Ortiz de Dominguez Elementary School, and is currently the Bilingual Lead and ESL pullout teacher at The Chicago Academy on Chicago’s northwest side. She received her bachelor’s degree in music from the University of North Carolina, and her master’s degree in Educational Leadership, with ESL and bilingual endorsements, from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

 

Leah has received Chicago Foundation for Education and Rochelle Lee Grants for her classroom, and was granted the Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Award in 1997. Leah has presented at conferences nationwide on language development and second language acquisition.

 
     
 
Lucy Klocksin has taught special education in Arizona and Illinois and has worked as a reading specialist in the Chicago Public Schools for the past fourteen years. She holds a bachelors degree in Deaf Education from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, and a masters degree in Reading from National-Louis University. She currently works as a reading resource teacher for students in grades three through eight and oversees an early intervention tutoring program that serves children in first and second grades at Boone Elementary School in Chicago.  She is a 2000 Golden Apple Fellow and has visited schools in New Zealand through a 2006 Chicago Foundation for Education / Fund For Teachers Fellowship. She also visited schools in Japan through the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program in 2000.
 
     
 
Sabrina Silverstein just began her 15th year of teaching in the Chicago Public School System. She has a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University and last year she achieved her National Board Certification as an Early Childhood Generalist. This year she is mentoring other teachers as they go through the certification process. She taught Kindergarten for 3 years and has taught Prekindergarten for the past 12 years. Sabrina currently uses her Bilingual Certificate and her English as a Second Language Endorsement at Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez School on Chicago’s west side.

 

Sabrina has won many awards from the Chicago Foundation for Education and the Rochelle Lee Fund that help her increase hands-on learning opportunities in her classroom. Sabrina was awarded the opportunity to study the Project Approach last year through the Kohl Children’s Museum which helped her increase parent and community involvement in school. Sabrina has coached basketball for kindergarten through 8th graders, collaborates with colleagues across grade levels and schools, and is involved in implementing a school-wide nutrition and fitness theme at Ortiz this year.
 
     
 
Monica Sims began her teaching career in the Chicago Public Schools four years, ago after receiving her Masters of Arts in Teaching from National Louis University.  Monica obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communication from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Monica currently teaches fifth grade at Pershing West Magnet School located in the Bronzville area.

 

Monica has been a part of various teacher organizations and has been awarded a number grants relating to teaching since her induction to the teaching profession.  Monica was a member of the New Teacher Network now known as Chicago New Teacher Center.  Monica is a member of Nurturing Teacher Leadership (NTL), offered through the Chicago Teacher’s Union.  Monica received a small classroom and study group grant from Chicago Foundation for Education.  Monica won a variety of grants from the Rochelle Lee Fund and currently leads a literacy study group at her school. 
 
     
 
Rebecca Zimmerman became a teacher five years ago after receiving her Masters in Education from University of Illinois at Chicago.  Rebecca has been awarded a number of grants through organizations such as the Chicago Foundation for Education, the Rochelle Lee Fund, Polaroid Inc, and the Oppenheimer Foundation.  She also works with the Chicago Math and Science Initiative to as a curriculum presenter.

Rebecca enjoys living in Chicago with her family and working as a first grade ESL teacher at Daniel Boone Elementary.
 
     
 
Nicole Zumpano has taught 4th grade for 14 years in Chicago Public Schools.  She is a National Board Certified teacher, and holds a Masters degree in Administration & Supervision.  She plays an active role within her school as a Local School Council representative, grade level chairperson, and the liaison for the school’s relationship with Chicago Communities In Schools.  She individually designed and maintains the school website as well.  Nicole has presented several inservices to colleagues and committees and has been a mentor in a University of Chicago program to teach teachers how to develop websites.  She has won the Rochelle Lee reading grant and a NASA teacher grant. She has been the recipient of both the CFE small grant and study group grant.  Currently, Nicole is a study group coach as well as a fellow in the TNLI program.