Meet Our Instructors

Ana Rawson has been teaching pre-k through university level for 30 years. The first ten years were spent in Southern California working as a director for Head Start- Follow Through pre K through grade two, and later as a lead teacher in a dual bilingual program for 5 years. In 1988, she established the ESOL program for WSESU where she is currently directing the program, and teaching at BUHS. During these years she has been involved in acquiring grants to enhance the program, curriculum development, and state projects to meet the requirements of NCLB. Such projects have included writing standards, and test items for the ACCESS test, serving on bias reviews teams, working on standard test alignments at the University of Wisconsin, and developing Staff Development for teachers of ELLs. Ana is currently teaching at SIT in the Master of Teaching Program, and has taught SIOP classes for St. Michaels University. The All Kids class was developed especially for teachers in WSESU working with ELLs in order to meet the requirements of NCLB, and federal mandates.

Casey Murrow is the director of the Southeast Vermont Learning Collaborative, one of Vermont's six education service agencies. He is the founder and Co-Director of Synergy Learning International, a non-profit organization assisting schools, teachers and families with science, math, and technology learning for children. Synergy publishes Connect, a national online magazine for K-8 educators. Casey has served as an elementary teacher in public schools in Washington, DC, in Vermont and in England. He is the co-author of Children Come First, author of Using Our Communities, and editor of several books in an early childhood literacy and science series funded by the National Science Foundation.

Doug Klette has been teaching graduate school courses focusing on communication, counseling, and conflict resolution skills through Castleton State College and The University of Vermont for the past 35 years. He also works as an independent consultant with school systems, as well as with business and medical jpersonnel. His message is simple. When people interact authentically, respectfully and courgeously, students, customers, and patients benefit.

Elizabeth Van Cleef has previously taught courses at the Collaborative to rave reviews. She has served as a classroom teacher, math coach and Title I specialist in several schools, including the Multicultural Magnet School in New London, Connecticut. More recently, she has been a Senior Research and Development Specialist for the highly regarded curriculum, Investigations in Number, Data and Space at TERC, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is a workshop leader for Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI) and has presented this course for several school districts in the northeast US, receiving very high evaluations.

Jane Wilde is a self proclaimed computer geek. She thoroughly enjoys technology and loves to teach people how to use it. Having the rare combination of technical skills and the ability to speak English (rather than computer-eeze) she can show you how to engage your students and enrich your curriculum with computers, the internet, and multimedia materials. Having begun her teaching career in Special Education, Jane enjoys working with even the most computer challenged student. A twenty-five year veteran educator, Jane has taught at every grade level from Kindergarten to Graduate School. She is currently on the faculty at Marlboro College Graduate School and is pursuing a PhD at the University at Albany in the field of Instructional Technology.

Jim Warnock is a consultant with the Boston-based consulting firm Research for Better Teaching and has 30 years' experience in education. His consulting work centers on instructional leadership, teacher training, supporting districts in developing standards-based supervision and evaluation systems, and working with principals of underperforming schools. Jim also directs the Sino-American Seminar on Educational Leadership for the University of Vermont's Asian Studies Outreach Program and has traveled and worked extensively throughout China. He has provided technical assistance to schools in Russia as part of a U.S. Department of State Community Connections program and has conducted teacher training in Australia. Jim was Assistant Superintendent of Schools for the city of Burlington, VT, and also served as a secondary principal, K-12 staff developer, and teacher.

Matt Kolan is a lecturer in the University of Vermont 's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, where he teaches courses in landscape analysis, natural history, educational design, environmental problem-solving, and power and privilege. His research explores diverse and innovative approaches to designing learning environments that attempt to reconnect and realign people with the wisdom of nature and the language of the land. Matt also works as an educational and ecological consultant for a variety of organizations.

Priscilla White is the Child Victim Treatment Director and Co-Director of the Vermont Center for Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Abuse. She graduated from Johnson State College with a BA in Political Science and Secondary Education. She was the Prevention Educator/Outreach Coordinator for O.U.R. House of Central Vermont before stepping into the Executive Director position. O.U.R. House was Vermont’s first of nine Children’s Advocacy Centers. Priscilla worked closely with many community organizations within Washington County advocating for children and the prevention of child sexual abuse. She has worked for the Department for Children and families for 4 years.