The Maximize Advisory Council

Brenda has over 20 years experience in education. She began her career as an elementary school teacher in NYC public schools. She then became a coach and eventually a professional developer serving districts across the country working for a variety of publishing companies. She recently led a national anti-racism fellowship for teachers aimed at intentionally diversifying their classrooms and challenging their mindset.

Brenda’s cross-educational lens allows her to see the various lenses through which urban children are seen and unseen. Her career has focused on social justice and she firmly believes in empowering children and educators alike so that they can challenge the current systems of inequity. She received her Master’s in Urban and Multicultural Education from the College of Mt. St. Vincent, recognizing that the needs of urban students were not only unmet but misunderstood.

Christine Caruso is an early education teacher with 15 years of experience. As a graduate of Brandeis University, Brooklyn College and Bank Street College, she has earned degrees in Elementary Education, Special Education and School Administration. Throughout her career, Christine has worked as a Teacher Mentor, Literacy Leader, Instructional Coach and Model Teacher.

As a career educator, Christine is rooted in equity focused pedagogy. Social emotional learning and creating powerful, supportive, positive classroom environments in which communities thrive, is the true embodiment of Christine’s work.

Michelle Flemen-Tung, MSEd, provides on-site consultation and professional development for the ASD Nest Support Project. The main focus of her work is empowering educators and families in all NYC communities. Michelle is a licensed special educator and is a certified school building leader. She recently graduated from NYU’s Educational Leadership Program and was honored to participate in NYU Steinhardt’s English Language Learning (ELL) Think Tank.

Michelle’s work with special needs populations began at The Mid Hudson Valley Camp for Special Children, first as a volunteer and then as a session director. Most recently, Michelle worked for 10 years at PS 503 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn as a teacher leader and special education coordinator. In addition to the ASD Nest Support Project, Michelle Flemen-Tung is also involved with program development for the Path Program which is an inclusion program pilot in NYCDOE schools.

Maria E. Garcia LMSW, grew up in Sunset Park Brooklyn to immigrant parents. She received a Bachelor’s degree from New York University with a double major in Latin American Studies and Psychology. After a few years in the social service field, in 2003 she graduated with Honors from the Hunter School of Social Work. She is currently a Bilingual School Social Worker for the Department of Education, primarily serving students of color who are immigrants themselves or born to immigrant parents. She specializes in providing counseling and services to individuals, groups and teams affected by, and serving populations, facing grief and trauma.

Maria recognizes that students need to be treated holistically and coordinate services for the whole family, including a school based food pantry, community, mental health services, access to legal services, parent workshops and healthcare resources. In addition, she also creates and delivers workshops for parents of children with diverse neurological needs and supports families in coordinating care to achieve the goals set out for students.

Sandy Hardee is the Coordinator of Education Programs and Development & Training working for Sheppard Pratt and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She started her career as a middle school health teacher and continued her education to earn a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction with an Administrator I certification from McDaniel College. She has been coaching in schools across the state of Maryland since 2007 to include individual teacher coaching as well as school-wide coaching to improve outcomes for students.

During her time working in MD schools, Sandy has been able to support the implementation of a variety of grants focusing on social-emotional learning, positive behavioral interventions and supports, culturally responsive teaching practices, evidence-based interventions, data-based decision making, student engagement, school climate and safety and racial literacy.

Symone James is an elementary school teacher in Meriden, CT. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Diversity Studies, a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, and a Sixth-Year Diploma in Education Administration at the University of Connecticut.

In the classroom, Symone encourages her students to learn about their own identities and think critically about the world around them. She is also passionate about supporting fellow educators in gaining the knowledge and resources needed to create classroom environments where all students can thrive and be successful. At her school, she serves as the Equity Committee Chair and is also on the District Leadership Team for Equity, providing professional learning for staff.

Since her time as an undergrad student at UCONN, she’s enjoyed connecting BIPOC educators across her state through different organizations such as Leadership in Diversity, as well as presenting at and hosting learning opportunities focused on culturally sustaining and equitable teaching practices. Symone continues this work nationally as an organizing member of Melanin Magic which hosts annual events that support and provide resources to BIPOC educators.

Erin Pennington is an assistant principal at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School. Mt. Pleasant Elementary School is one of five elementary schools in the Lancaster City School District located in Lancaster, Ohio.

In 2002, Erin earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Bowling Green State University. In 2005, she earned a Masters in Curriculum from Mary Grove University. In 2012, Erin earned her Masters of Education from The Ohio University. Erin’s passion is to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of all students.

Tammy Tait is a Child Development Advisor for Rocky View School Division, at Heloise Lorimer, in Airdrie, Alberta. She works at a K-5 school, which serves more than 650 students.  The entire Rocky View Schools Division serves over 25,000 students in over 50 schools.

Tammy holds a Bachelor of Child Studies from Mount Royal University, as well as Certificate in Children’s Mental Health and Diploma in Community Rehabilitation. Her focus continues to be on children’s mental health, social and emotional supports, trauma informed care and ensuring her division's teaching staff feel supported to better meet the social emotional needs of their students. Connection is at the heart of her work.

Rita has been practicing as a licensed social worker for 23 years. She obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Social Work in 1998 and her Master's Degree in Social Work in 2008 from The Ohio State University.

Through this experience Rita worked at several community agencies, Franklin County Juvenile Courts and school districts. She has also worked in Reynoldsburg City schools as a school social worker for 2 elementary buildings for 5 years before taking the job of the Behavioral Health Coordinator for the district in 2008. She worked with staff, students and their families to help identify barriers to a student’s emotional, social and academic success. She worked with teachers classroom management, conducting functional behavior assessments, behavior plans and progress monitoring for students displaying behavior issues. In addition, she provided yearly CPI training for the Reynoldsburg staff and was homeless liaison for the district.

In 2015, Rita was employed in Whitehall City Schools as the lead district School Social Worker for Beechwood Elementary for 6 years. In this role she works with students, staff and families to help provide resources to families in need as well as work with students that have trauma and need tools for emotional regulation. She continues her work with staff and students in identifying barriers to learning. She is an active member of Beechwood’s MTSS team and facilitates the PBIS team for Beechwood.

Rita has always had a passion to work with a diverse group of at-risk kids in the education arena. Mental Health is a strong focus for her as it continues to evolve throughout the district with students and families. Rita provides both social/emotional support for students and families using an integrated approach tailored to the unique needs for each client. Rita believes that change occurs when people are given the tools they need to build on their own talents and attain their own potential in order to live happy, satisfying lives.

Professor Ama Nsia Willock has long been an advocate for building and strengthening youth, and in doing so has served the community as both an entrepreneur and an educator.  With over 30 years of service as an educator, she began her career in the Independent Black School system at Sparks of African Genius in Brooklyn. She has worked in District 23 in Ocean Hill Brownsville and in District 22 in Flatbush, Brooklyn. She is a recently retired Assistant Principal from District 20 in NYC. She was the leader of her school’s Annex, The Early Childhood Center, which she was given the task of building from inception.

She has taken on a new roll in assisting in the development of new teachers at Medgar Evers College. Ama Willock holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education from Medgar Evers College, and a Master of Science Degree in Special Education in addition to an Educational Administration degree from Brooklyn College.