Rachel Ashbrook is a Middle & Upper School English and History Teacher and DEI Coordinator at Tower Hill School. Rachel began her social justice work over ten years ago when she looked up the demographics of her public school for work on her Master's, and was confronted with a truth she already knew; her school was nearly 90% white and the curriculum reflected that reality. Though time changed the demographics of the school, it was advocacy that changed the curriculum. Rachel pushed her way onto curriculum and book approval committees and used her leadership roles within her school to make classroom and systemic level changes. Now at an independent school, Rachel is a DEI coordinator and English teacher who leads Community Conversations for middle schoolers by day and pushes for changes on a Curriculum Task Force by night.

Dr. Anna Baralt holds a Doctorate in Educational Technology from the University of Florida. She taught preschool and elementary students for 17 years before becoming Shorecrest’s Director of Educational Technology. In this role, she provides support in designing curriculum and technology integration and facilitates professional development school-wide. Anna was recognized as a Teacher of the Future by the National Association of Independent Schools in 2008 and a Superpower Educator in 2009. She is also a 2010 recipient of the FCIS (Florida Council of Independent Schools) DeWitt E. and Vera M. Hooker Fellowship Grant as well as a 2013 Benedict Foundation Grant. Anna is passionate about integrating technology into project work, 1:1 learning programs, fostering digital citizenship, STEAM education, and using technology to facilitate professional learning communities. She has presented at numerous local and national conferences and has been published in several peer-reviewed educational journals.

Tracie Belt is the Director of The Learning Center (Experiential- 12th grade) at Shorecrest school. She plans and provides strategies and support to empower students to be successful academically. In addition to supporting students, Tracie, along with the division coordinators of the Learning Center, consults and collaborates with parents and teachers to enhance the academic success of their children and students. She has over 30 years of experience as an educator in grades K-9th grade and has taught in public and private schools in the USA as well as international schools in Europe and Asia. In addition, Tracie often provides workshops on executive function, learning differences, study skills, and assistive technology for students, parents, and teachers.
In addition to being passionate about helping students, Tracie is also passionate about her two grandchildren. She loves spending time with her grandchildren and daughter who live close by in Saint Petersburg.

Amy Brill, a seventh grade English teacher and dean at Shorecrest Preparatory School, is a 2014 recipient of the FCIS DeWitt E. Vera M. Hooker Fellowship Grant for her collaborative project: iPad Digital Storytelling with Stop Motion Animation. A former journalist and editor, one of Amy’s primary goals is to help students find a passion and confidence for writing. She does this by using best practices in the English classroom, including technology and cooperative learning strategies. Teaching for 15 years, Amy has presented at Tampa Bay Area Writing Project's fall conferences for the past three years as well as FCIS in 2015 and at several local professional development summits. In 2018, Amy was part of a teaching team that won Shorecrest’s Innovation Grant for their project-based learning curriculum on health awareness. In the summer, Amy enjoys her role as Tampa Bay Area Writing Project’s St. Pete I.C.E. site director and is a National Writing Project facilitator.

Dr. Stephanie Cojocaru is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay area. Her background in working with military populations and individuals afflicted by complex trauma led her to a Staff Psychologist position with the Department of Veterans Affairs. During her time with the VA, she became a national consultant for an evidence-based treatment focused on strategies to improve relationships and mood and also spent time working with the organizational development team to improve workplace performance and cohesion. Dr. Cojocaru left the VA in 2019 to open her private practice and expand mental health treatment and organizational development consulting services for the St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay area.

As an instructor for UNCC’s Cato College of Education, Dr. Lenora Crabtree encourages teacher candidates to engage in inclusive and equitable learning opportunities. She received her BS in Molecular Biology from Vanderbilt University and taught high school Chemistry, Biology, and Anatomy and Physiology for sixteen years. Experiences as a classroom teacher, along with research conducted while pursuing an MS in Biology, provoked an interest in culturally relevant STEM education that became the impetus to pursue a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction/Urban Education. Her dissertation, defended in July 2020, explored the potential for scientific inquiry and place-based emphases to support the development of critical consciousness among practicing science teachers.

In addition to her work as a teacher educator, she is mom to three adult sons, LaLa to four grandsons under the age of five, and godmother to an amazing fifteen year old goddaughter.

Diego Duran-Medina spent 10+ years helping schools develop service learning curricula and programming. From 2007-2012, he served as Director of Service-Learning at the Edmund Burke School in Washington, DC. 

Diego earned a Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University, a Master of Arts from New York University, and a Master of Education from the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College-Columbia University. He has presented at multiple NAIS conferences, and recently published a piece on civic education and developing students and scholars in "Independent School magazine." He co-founded the Center for Service Learning Leadership with Jonathan Davis, Middle School Principal at Dwight-Englewood School, in 2016, dedicated to promoting best practices in service learning for independent schools.

Courtney Ellis is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, wife, and mom of 2. She currently works as the Upper School Counselor at Shorecrest Preparatory School and teaches two sections of AP Psychology. She is also an alumna of Shorecrest.

Courtney spent the first 10 years of her career in private practice and has found enjoyment in connecting her clinical background with her current work in a school setting.

Colette Husenitza has been teaching for 20 years, this is her fifth year at Shorecrest Preparatory School. In the previous 15 years of teaching, she taught in the Pinellas County School (PCS) system. She has spent most of the last 15 years teaching 3rd grade, but I’ve also taught 1st, 2nd, and 5th grades. "I love that I've taught grades 3 and 5. That experience allows me to know what the students learned last year, and what they will need to know to be successful at the start of 5th grade."

Colette has worked for six different PCS schools, including a Primary Years Programme (IB) magnet school and a Math and Engineering magnet school, both nationally recognized and award-winning. She was required to take extensive training for both magnet schools and helped write the school curriculum. Colette has written curriculum for an education company as well. She is a National Board Certified Teacher with a certification in Early and Middle Childhood/Literacy: Reading-Language Arts, 3-12. Additionally, she has earned a Master's in Ed Leadership.

Colette is a native of St Petersburg, FL, and lives with her husband and daughter. They enjoy attending the ballet, visiting the local museums, and walking on the beach at sunset.

Since 2004, Rosetta Lee has been a diversity speaker and trainer on a variety of topics, including cross-cultural communication, identity development, implicit and unconscious bias, gender and sexuality diversity, facilitation skills, and bullying in schools. 

Rosetta  serves Seattle Girls’ School in dual roles. SGS is an innovative school for Junior High School girls, aiming to empower women leaders and change agents and dedicating its energies to a diverse community of students and faculty, an anti-bias mission, and an integrated curriculum. As a faculty member, Rosetta teaches subjects such as science, math, technology, art, ethics, social justice, and more. As a professional outreach specialist, she designs and delivers trainings for all constituencies of the school community, as well as the local and national educational and nonprofit sectors.

Rosetta has presented at numerous conferences and nonprofit organizations such as the White Privilege Conference, Junior League, and City Year. She has also worked with over 200 K-12 public and independent schools throughout the country, as well as a number of colleges and universities. She has served several years on the faculty of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Diversity Leadership Institute, as well as NAIS's diversity think-tank cadre, Call to Action.

Sarah Finnemore Palazzolo is the Lower School

Deborah Peart is a mathematics specialist at UnboundEd and works with a team to develop and implement professional development programs for K-12 mathematics. Prior to this, she was the lead writer for 2nd grade for the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Math Curriculum project. Now based in FL, Deborah taught for over 25 years in NY, CT, and GA in the public and private sectors.

Deborah is the founder of My Mathematical Mind and speaks on a variety of topics related to math identity and literacy connections to mathematics. Blending her training in yoga and mindfulness with mathematics instruction, Deborah advocates for a mindful approach to teaching mathematics in order to address math anxiety, build confidence, and support the development of positive mathematical identities. She has dedicated her career to helping other educators approach teaching in innovative ways that allow students to see themselves as valued mathematical thinkers.

Khana Rebman earned a BA in Human Development from Connecticut College and an MA and Certification in Elementary Education. She teaches third grade at Shorecrest Preparatory School. Khana exudes her own brand of energy and creativity to her work, and brings a unique perspective to the faculty as an alumna of the school. Khana is passionate about unleashing the potential of her students and instills in them the confidence to make their marks on the world.

Cindy Williams holds a B.A. in Art and a Masters in Education and has taught art in the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools at Shorecrest Preparatory School. Cindy is a docent at the Salvador Dali Museum and has presented at AMLE 2012, NAEA 2014, and FCIS 2013 and 2015 on linking the arts with the core curriculum. She collaborates with the core curricular teachers in the Middle School and has attended many workshops on brain research and uses brain-friendly teaching strategies in her courses to enhance creativity and encourage diverse thinking.

Interesting fact: Cindy is a native Floridian born in Daytona Beach, Florida. She was raised in a family of 3 children, had 3 children of her own, currently raises 3 chickens, and has 3+2 grandchildren.

Selene Willis has taught fifth grade science at Shorecrest Preparatory School since 2014. She has taken a year-long sabbatical to work with the NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Activation program as a 2021-2022 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow. 

Ms. Willis has over a decade of teaching experience, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science Education from Pace University. Ms. Willis is pursuing a Doctorate in Science Curriculum and Instruction at the University of South Florida.

When she is not thinking of interesting ways to excite her students in science class, Selene is a self-taught cake decorator and co-director of a non-profit cultural foundation in Jamaica.