Teacher Advisory Councils

Since 2014, the Education Department has looked to teachers to help guide our work. After all, who knows more about what educators need in the classroom than those doing the work? In the last seven years, the Teacher Advisory Council has been invaluable as we navigated the consolidation of our museums, developed new education programs, and worked through a global pandemic. It is not an understatement to say that without the partnership developed by the teachers on the council ours would be a less effective and less focused department.

Upon receiving a grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia last year, we decided to expand our Teacher Advisory Council by creating one that recruited nationally and another that focused on the specific needs of Virginia Teachers. This year we have gone a step further by partnering with the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. This new partnership in which the Virginia Council advises and works with both organizations has already yielded positive results, by reaching educator applicants whom we previously were unable to recruit.

This year we had a record number of applications to join our councils, and making the final cuts was not easy. Of the 38 total candidates to apply, the 24 that have been selected are stand-out educators with a passion for the work. Each of the eight Superintendent’s Regions of the VDOE is represented on the Virginia Council, including Southside and Southwest VA. The National Council includes teachers from Arkansas, Vermont, Georgia, and Wisconsin, and, for the first time, California.

It is both an exciting and trying time for education in the United States and in Virginia, but with the guidance of these exemplary educators, we are sure to shine!

Virginia Teacher Advisory Council

Shantel Wright- Southampton Elementary, Richmond; Barry Davis- Bethel HS, Hampton; Stephanie Burchett- Parkside Elementary, Spotsylvania; Lynn Moore- Potomac MS, Dumfries; Clarke Scott- Pittsylvania County Schools, Altavista; Hayley Burnett- Bonsack Elementary, Roanoke; Benson Redman- John S. Battle HS, Bristol; Amy Cranford- Park View HS, South Hill; Rebecca Graham- Madeira School, McLean; Hampton Kennedy- Blue Ridge School, St. George; Janice Fisher- Hylton HS, Woodbridge; Katrina Shultz- Rippon MS, Woodbridge

National Teacher Advisory Council

Sara Owens- Greenfield Central Jr. HS, Greenfield, IN; Bruce Damasio- Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD; Becky Berry- Morgantown HS, Morgantown, WV; Jason Rojee- Medway HS, Medway, MA; Tomacine Crouch- Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Center, Charlottesville, VA; Valencia Abbott- Rockingham Early College HS, Wentworth, NC; Crystal Parten- CSRA RESA, Dearing, GA; Mark Grow- Millbrook HS, Raleigh, NC; Linda Gustafson- Vermont Technical College, Williston, VT; Jonathan Shulman- La Jolla Country Day School, La Jolla, CA; Patrick Jacob- Arkansas National Guard/Arkansas Military Academy, Camp Robinson, AR; Chris Lese- Marquette University HS, Milwaukee, WI; Meaghan Rymer- River City MS, Richmond, VA