BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Board provides stability and direction for the future of the Constructivist Conference,
and preserves the history of the Institute’s past.
Meet the Board
Austin Weakfall teaches 10th grade social studies, and 11th and 12th grade psychology at Potsdam CSD. He is also a two sport coach at Heuvelton CSD and has been a member of the Institute for Learning Centered Education Board of Directors for five years.
Christina Luce is currently a teacher in the Liverpool Central School District. She has taught 2nd, 3rd and 6th grade and was also employed as the District’s K-8 Instructional Technology Specialist. Christina has extensive experience with co-teaching and inclusion.
Julie Saunders has been an educator for 25 years. Julie began her public school gig as a math AIS teacher. Currently she spends her days in an inclusive kindergarten setting.
Michelle Rogers, Treasurer, has been an English and social studies teacher and an instructional coach and literacy consultant. She is currently coordinator of Educational Services at Avila Institute of Gerontology.
Tim Rudan is a teacher of economics and French at Northview Heights Secondary School in Toronto. In addition to teaching adolescents Tim has also been involved in teacher education at York University. He currently teaches 11th and 12th grade students in Toronto.
Carol Amberg taught middle and high school English for 30 years, as well as college English. She has provided professional development workshops in association with BOCES, the Institute for Learning Centered Education, and the national New Standards Project.
James Pelech, Ed.D. holds the rank of Professor and Chair of the Education Department at Benedictine University. Prior to that, he taught high school math for thirty years. He is past president of The Association for Constructivist Teaching and is presently serving on their board.
Kendra Bush is an ELA-S kindergarten teacher in Denver. She has previously worked as a Spanish literacy specialist and a staff developer training teacher to utilize personalized teaching strategies.
Raamitha Pillay is a STEM educator and an adjunct at SUNY Canton, Canino School of Engineering Technology. Raamitha has previously taught at Ogdensburg Academy CSD, and in the Innovations in Science and Technology Program at St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES.
Former Board Members Entitled To Participation
Nick Donohue, Former Commissioner of Education, New Hampshire, Currently CEO of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.
Frank Pickus, Assistant superintendent, Gloversville, New York, retired. Frank has been facilitating Institute conferences for nearly 20 years and was a teacher of special education before becoming an administrator.
Tom O’Bryan is a member of the Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES board of Education, also a member of the St. Regis Falls CSD Board, and a member of the Adirondack Teacher Center Policy Board.
Founding Members Entitled to Full Participation
Marjorie Flynn, former CSEA President. Marge has been involved in every major step of the Institute since 1995, sometimes officially, often behind the scenes.
Susan Herman, former middle school special education teacher/instructor of inclusion classes and supervisor of student teachers, St. Lawrence University and partner in everything undertaken by the Institute.
Pat Flynn, former Research and Educational Services Department, NYSUT. Along, with Nick Donohue, Terry Mazany, and Don Mesibov, Pat was part of the team that designed the unique week-long summer conference format that modeled learner-centered strategies for thousands of educators.
Terry Mazany, former CEO of the Chicago Educational Trust, interim superintendent of the Chicago School System, assistant superintendent of the Oakland, California City Schools, restructuring consultant for the Baltimore School System, conference and workshop designer and currently interim superintendent in Atlanta, Georgia.
Institute Director and Former Board Member
Don Mesibov founded the Institute for Learning Centered Education in 1995. He conducts workshops on Authentic Assessment, Performance Based Learning, Shared Decision-Making, Unit Writing, and Authentic Task Constructivism. Don has co-authored three books on constructivism with Pat Flynn, Paul Vermette, and Mike Smith. He and council member Dan Drmacich are about to publish a book on learner-center/social-emotional strategies in partnership with the Institute. He has also written a personal memoir reflecting time he spent with his mother, an Alzheimer's sufferer. Don taught courses at St. Lawrence University for 20 years, where he put Constructivist theory into practice.