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connect@humanitiesamped.com
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PO Box 64653
Baton Rouge, LA 70806 |
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Anna WestExecutive Director
she/her, they/them awest@humanitiesamped.com Anna West is the proud Executive Director of Humanities Amped. An organizer and educator of socially engaged youth writing and research for over twenty years, Anna founded Forward Arts, co-founded Chicago’s Louder than a Bomb, the country’s largest youth poetry slam, and is a co-director of the Andover Bread Loaf summer educator workshop. She holds a PhD in English Education from Louisiana State University where she was awarded the 2018 Distinguished Dissertation Award in Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. She holds a M.Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education where she received the 2011 Arts in Education Intellectual Contribution Award.
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Destiny Adams CooperInstructional Leader
she/her dadams@ebrschools.org After becoming a teacher in 2002, Destiny earned National Board certification in 2012 and an M.Ed. from LSU in 2014. Dedicated to creating meaningful and joyful experiences for students and teachers, Destiny partnered with Dialogue and Race, Forward Arts, and other community organizations while teaching in the classroom and contributing to teacher professional development. She co-founded Humanities Amped with Anna West in 2014 and became the Humanities Amped Curriculum Coordinator for EBRPSS in 2019. Working with multiple schools, Destiny leads teachers and their students in creating classrooms and schools that their communities desire.
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Alejandra torresProgram Director & Amped Community Educator
she/her alextorres@humanitiesamped.com Alejandra Torres is a bilingual educator and immigrant youth advocate. She is community Engagement Director and English Learner Instructional Coach for Humanities Amped and holds a PhD in English from Louisiana State University. Her dissertation and advocacy work address the educational needs of immigrant youth, particularly undocumented adolescent English Learners. She serves on the EBR ESL Task Force, Baton Rouge Immigrant Rights Coalition, Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants, and ICARE Advisory Board. She has worked with Humanities Amped since 2015.
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Marcel WilliamsProgram Manager & Amped Community Educator
he/him marcelw@humanitiesamped.com Marcel Williams is a community educator at Westdale Middle School and Broadmoor High School. Marcel is a national independent touring Hip-Hop artist and Hip-Hop educator, with 18 years of youth development experience in education, asset based youth programming, and mental health. Marcel has a bachelors in History from Southern University A&M in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and has been recognized by national publications such as XXL, Hip-Hop DX, & Genius for both his art and youth advocacy.
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Tareil GeorgeProgram Manager & Amped Community Educator
she/her tareilg@humanitiesamped.com Tareil George is a graduate of McKinley Senior High School following her third year with Humanities Amped. She is working hard to make her family proud. She’s also working on her own non profit organization to help expand the next generation’s leadership skills. She has presented at various conferences, including the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s arts-in-education conference. Tareil wants to attend the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and one day get her PhD. Tareil is continuing to achieve her mission as a member of the Humanities Amped team through Serve Louisiana.
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Asia ReeseProgram Manager & Amped Community Educator
she/her areese@humanitiesamped.com Hey, y'all! My name is Asia Reese, and I am currently a graduating senior Sociology and Anthropology major, honors student at Spelman College. I was born and raised in Baton Rouge, LA. It was at my alma mater, Mckinley Senior High School, that I first got involved with the Humanities Amped community. Thus, to return as a community educator is an exciting full-circle moment. I am excited to serve through the AmeriCorps branch Louisiana Serves. My dream is to get my Ph.D. and continue my commitment to education through the professoriate.
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DESIREÉ DALLAGIACOMOProgram Manager & Amped Community Educator
she/her desiree@humanitiesamped.com Desireé Dallagiacomo is a full-time touring artist and educator originally from rural California. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, and she has been a finalist at every major poetry slam in the USA. Her poems have been featured widely, and a collection of her work was adapted for the Vagina Monologues at Tulane University. She is the co-host of a Southern Poetry podcast, Drawl, and in 2016 she founded an annual writing retreat for working class writers. She has taught and performed extensively across the US, Canada, and Australia. Her first full-length poetry collection, SINK (Button, 2019), is available wherever books are sold.
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Taylor ScottProgram Coordinator & Amped Community Educator
she/her taylorscottbr@gmail.com Hailing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Taylor Scott is a writer, performance artist, and teacher. She is also a PhD candidate at Louisiana State University, pursuing a Ph.D. in English (Culture and Writing). Taylor researches the performative study of Black literary traditions, affect theory, and popular culture. She is an alumni of First Wave, the only collegiate spoken word and hip hop community of its kind in the country. In 2015, Taylor served as the creative director of the Bellhops, a blues and hip hop theatre ensemble that released a 6-track EP: Hero of My Own Tale.
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Emma GistOutreach Coordinator & Amped Community Educator
she/her egist@humanitiesamped.com Emma Gist, Humanities Amped Outreach Coordinator and Amped Community Educator, is a PhD student in Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University. Before joining Humanities Amped she taught high school English at Da Vinci High School, a Project-Based Learning school in Davis, CA, where she designed and implemented curriculum to promote inquiry, real-world connections, and the development of 21st century literacies and student voice, engaged in school- and district-wide restorative practices, and became a New Tech Network Certified Teacher. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California.
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Diana AvilesDreamkeepers College & Career Coordinator
she/her daviles@humanitiesamped.com Diana Aviles, a city girl from the Bronx, joined Humanities Amped Spring 2019 as the College & Career Coordinator and Community Educator. She is a PhD student in Educational Leadership & Research: Higher Education Administration at Louisiana State University. As a first-generation college student, she earned her BS in Community Health and MA is School Counseling. For the past 19 years, she has worked in many capacities within higher education and K-12 systems. Still new to Baton Rouge, 2 years in, she is involved with the Latinx Caucus at LSU and is the secretary of El Centro De Avance.
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Belaire High School
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Barbara aranedaTeacher - Belaire High School
they/them baraneda@ebrschools.org Barbara Araneda is an engineer and teacher at Belaire Magnet High. Araneda earned their undergraduate in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida and holds certifications in Chemical Engineering Process Controls, Urban Planning, GIS, and Sustainability. While pursuing a Masters of Natural Science at Louisiana State University (LSU) with certificates in Mathematics for Advanced Secondary Instruction and Gifted Education, Araneda has helped develop and pilot LSU’s Pre-Engineering JumpStart Pathway curriculum. Araneda is now piloting the application of the Humanities Amped curriculum to STEAM courses, hoping to empower youth to solve societies’ problems by merging analytical, problem solving with communication skills.
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Asia ReeseProgram Manager & Amped Community Educator
she/her areese@humanitiesamped.com Hey, y'all! My name is Asia Reese, and I am currently a graduating senior Sociology and Anthropology major, honors student at Spelman College. I was born and raised in Baton Rouge, LA. It was at my alma mater, Mckinley Senior High School, that I first got involved with the Humanities Amped community. Thus, to return as a community educator is an exciting full-circle moment. I am excited to serve through the AmeriCorps branch Louisiana Serves. My dream is to get my Ph.D. and continue my commitment to education through the professoriate.
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Gabriela B.Youth Apprentice Leader
she/her Gabriela Bonilla, is currently a senior at Belaire Magnet High School 20-21. She is a proud Salvadoran-American who wants to be a role model for the Latinx Community. After high school, she plans to become a elementary school teacher. She is excited to see what the future holds for her in this institute.
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Talasia H.Youth Apprentice Leader
she/her Talasia Holliday is now a senior for the upcoming school year of 2020-21 at Belaire Magnet High School. She is ambitious and is proud to be an Humanities Amped apprentice leader to showcase her leadership skills and to build not only herself but her peers. Talasia wants to take part in making a difference at her school and her community and to make her family proud by graduating and attending college. She has felt that the Humanities Amped institute has awoken her voice and taught her valuable things that she will carry on with others.
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Celeste PayneLab Teacher - Belaire High School
cpayne1@ebrschools.org Celeste Payne is a graphic artist and art educator from Long Island, New York. She holds a BA in Art with a concentration in Visual Communications from North Carolina Central University, studied Computer-Mediated Art Education at The Ohio State University, and earned her teacher certification at the University of Florida. She has designed book covers for several independent authors and hosts community arts and empowerment workshops. She has served as a 3rd grade ELA/Social studies classroom teacher and K-5 art teacher at Claiborne Elementary and currently teaches Art I, Art II and Graphic Arts at Belaire High School.
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Desireé DallagiacomoAmped Community Educator
she/her desiree@humanitiesamped.com Desireé Dallagiacomo is a full-time touring artist and educator originally from rural California. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, and she has been a finalist at every major poetry slam in the USA. Her poems have been featured widely, and a collection of her work was adapted for the Vagina Monologues at Tulane University. She is the co-host of a Southern Poetry podcast, Drawl, and in 2016 she founded an annual writing retreat for working class writers. She has taught and performed extensively across the US, Canada, and Australia. Her first full-length poetry collection, SINK (Button, 2019), is available wherever books are sold.
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Broadmoor High School
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Tremaine M. SandersTeacher - Broadmoor High School
she/her tsanders2@ebrschools.org Tremaine Sanders, Ed.S, has been an educator for eleven years. She is certified as an Educational Leader as well as a secondary educator of English and social studies. Tremaine is deeply dedicated to providing her students with an education that is culturally relevant and representative of the lives they live. She sees the work of educational equity and restorative justice as the highest calling in her life.
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Marcel WIlliamsAmped Community Educator
he/him marcelw@humanitiesamped.com Marcel Williams is a community educator at Westdale Middle School. Marcel is a national independent touring Hip-Hop artist and Hip-Hop educator, with 18 years of youth development experience in education, asset based youth programming, and mental health. Marcel has a bachelors in History from Southern University A&M in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and has been recognized by national publications such as XXL, Hip-Hop DX, & Genius for both his art and youth advocacy.
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Anna S.Youth Apprentice Leader
she/her Anna Silas is a senior at Broadmoor Senior High School who is working to improve her school's community as a whole. Anna aims to attend Southeastern University for coding and the arts. Anna has a long future ahead.
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Kobi T.Youth Apprentice Leader
she/her A Junior at Broadmoor High , Kobi Tircuit is a student of 21’ . She has played basketball and has done track and field . She helps her peers learn themselves and their worth . She is an amazing friend, daughter, and leader.
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Amanda DillonTeacher - Broadmoor High School
she/her adillon@ebrschools.org Amanda L. Dillon is a proud alumna of Southeastern Louisiana University. After earning her BA, she taught English in the Washington Parish area for twelve years before moving to the great city of Baton Rouge. With a desire to further her career and her knowledge of the education field, Amanda earned a Master of Arts in Reading with Emphasis in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University. Later, she graduated with a Master’s in Education Administration from Grand Canyon University as well. Equipped with the necessary education, Amanda hopes to continue to work as an educator and help her students achieve success.
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LeShell JenkinsTeacher - Broadmoor High School
she/her ljenkins@humanitiesamped.com LeShell Jenkins is a proud graduate of Grand Canyon University. After earning her MA, she began her teaching career at Broadmoor High School. With the desire to learn and increase her knowledge in education, LeShell is working on her EdD at Grand Canyon University with an expected graduation date of February 2020. She is very enthusiastic about teaching, the students she teaches, and the students she encounters. LeShell hopes to be an anchor for her students, and she wants to help them in their journey in their academics and future careers.
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McKinley Senior High School
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Brittany Perrie RainboltTeacher - McKinley Senior High School
she/her brainbolt@ebrschools.org Brittany Perrie Rainbolt is an English teacher at McKinley Senior High School. She earned her Masters in Education from Louisiana State University in 2010 and an Education Specialist degree in Gifted Education in 2018. She has taught both middle and high school, where she focuses on bridging gaps in understanding through project-based learning, a reimagining of the cannon, and flipped classroom experiences. She has worked with Humanities Amped since 2016.
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Emma GistOutreach Coordinator & Amped Community Educator
she/her egist@humanitiesamped.com Emma Gist, Humanities Amped Outreach Coordinator and Amped Community Educator, is a PhD student in Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University. Before joining Humanities Amped she taught high school English at Da Vinci High School, a Project-Based Learning school in Davis, CA, where she designed and implemented curriculum to promote inquiry, real-world connections, and the development of 21st century literacies and student voice, engaged in school- and district-wide restorative practices, and became a New Tech Network Certified Teacher. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California.
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Maurianna b.Youth Apprentice Leader - McKinley Senior High School
she/her Maurianna Bowers is a senior and attends McKinley Senior High School. She has been in Humanities Amped for 2 years and in Educators Rising for 1 year. She hopes to continue being in this amazing program and working with people that have taught me so much through the years, and later to help other youth educators.
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Nyibol C.Youth Apprentice Leader - McKinley Senior High School
she/her Nyibol Choch is a senior at McKinley Senior High School. She is currently working on earning her CNA certification, and she plans to one day attend medical school to become an orthopedic surgeon. In her free time, she enjoys reading and working on her art.
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Amelia HammondTeacher - McKinley Senior High School
she/her ahammond@ebrschools.org Amelia Hammond is a Texan turned 10-year Louisianan transplant. She studied English Education at LSU, and is currently a Gifted/Dual Enrollment English teacher with 6 years of experience at THE McKinley Senior High School. She student taught in the first cohort of the then, English Amped, program in 2014. She teaches critical literacy by integrating the arts into the classroom. She studies methods to foster deeper social-emotional growth for her students. Outside of the classroom, she sponsors and coaches McKinley High’s award-winning Poetry club and Slam Team.
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Taylor ScottAmped Community Educator
she/her taylorscottbr@gmail.com Hailing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Taylor Scott is a writer, performance artist, and teacher. She is also a PhD candidate at Louisiana State University, pursuing a Ph.D. in English (Culture and Writing). Taylor researches the performative study of Black literary traditions, affect theory, and popular culture. She is an alumni of First Wave, the only collegiate spoken word and hip hop community of its kind in the country. In 2015, Taylor served as the creative director of the Bellhops, a blues and hip hop theatre ensemble that released a 6-track EP: Hero of My Own Tale.
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TORI F.Youth Apprentice Leader
she/her Tori Ferry is a student from The McKinley Senior High School. She has just finished her first year of high school and has passed with good grades. She has taught different classes at her middle school as a leader for her grade. This is her first time being with the Humanities Amped Community and is very excited to be with them. She is looking forward to sharing her abilities with the community and also getting feedback from the community about her.
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Shelby GambleTeacher - McKinley Senior High School
she/her sgamble@ebrschools.org Shelby Gamble is a Baton Rouge native and LSU GeauxTeach graduate with 8 wonderful years of experience teaching English at McKinley Senior High School. She enjoys teaching students literature and language while honing their ability to view classic and contemporary works through a critical lens. She has also had the good fortune of being the sponsor for 1Pride, McKinley’s Gay-Straight Alliance club, for the past 6 years. Shelby is invested in bringing social-emotional learning to the forefront within the East Baton Rouge school curriculum, and is thrilled to be working with Humanities Amped to make this a reality.
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Pelumi FolajimiAmped Community Educator
he/him pelumi@humanitiesamped.com Pelumi Folajimi is a Humanities Amped Community Educator at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He had a B.A. in Dramatic Arts at Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria), in 2008. He had M.A. in English at the same University in 2015. He had another M.A. in African Languages and Literature in the Department of African Cultural Studies of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in 2017. Since 2017, he has been a Fellow and Artistic-Director-in-Residence at African Theatre in America, Chicago. He pursues his Ph.D in Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University.
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Park Forest Middle School
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Tana Rachel BoudreauxEducator - Park Forest Middle School
she/her tboudreaux30@ebrschools.org For over 22 years, Tana has served as a teacher, literacy coach, administrator, and a district champion girls track/field coach. As a national board certified teacher, she continues to use her knowledge and experience to support teachers. As part of the EBRPSS Advisory board for beginning teachers, her work supports the vital need to train, grow, and retain new teachers with best practices. Her community work involves being an official Big Buddy and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for abused and neglected children to navigate the foster care system and have a voice for them. Tana believes, “Every child deserves a GREAT first teaching.”For over 22 years, Tana has served as a teacher, literacy coach, administrator, and Track coach. As a national board certified teacher, she continues to use her knowledge and experience to support teachers. As part of the EBRPSS Advisory board for beginning teachers, her work supports the vital need to train, grow, and retain new teachers with best practices. Her community work involves being an official Big Buddy and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for abused and neglected children to navigate the foster care system and have a voice for them. Tana believes, “Every child deserves a GREAT first teaching.”
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Tasha McCarverTeacher - Park Forest Middle School
she/her trogers2@ebrschools.org Tasha McCarver had always dreamed of becoming a classroom teacher. She is now living out that dream as a second year teacher at Park Forest Middle Creative Sciences and Arts Magnet. She teaches English Language Arts in both inclusion and traditional settings. She is striving to make learning authentic for her students and to create real connectedness and well-being among herself, her students, and her community with the support of her Humanities Amped family.
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Winston GentleTeacher - Park Forest Middle School
he/him wgentle@ebrschools.org Winston Gentle is a middle school teacher at Park Forest Middle School here in Baton Rouge. He has experience teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, but he is currently teaching 7th grade English/Language Arts. He has experience both as a Special Education teacher and a regular education teacher. He has received a Bachelor's in English - Literature from Louisiana State University, and continued his work as a graduate student in the Holmes Program at LSU, when he earned his Master's in the Arts of Teaching, and received a Master's Degree in High Incident Disabilities in Special Education from the University of Kansas.
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Westdale Middle School
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Suredrika harrisonTeacher - Westdale Middle School
she/her sharrison@humanitiesamped.com Suredrika Harrison is a middle school Math Teacher and Teacher Mentor from Baton Rouge. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge and a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. She is dedicated to creating meaningful and joyful experiences for students, teachers, and the community.
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NKOSIE MOYOAmped Community Educator
he/him nmoyo@humanitiesamped.com Nkosie Moyo graduated with a BA ‘honors’ in English and Communication from Midlands State University (Zimbabwe) in 2015. He went on to pursue a Master’s degree in Britain at Coventry University where he graduated with a MA in Communication, Culture and Media in 2018. In the past, he has taught Literature in English as a Temporary Teacher at high school. Presently, he is studying for a PhD in Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University with research interests in Decoloniality, African Liberation Philosophy and Global Hip Hop. He considers himself a Lyricist and sporadically makes Hip Hop music.
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Chad B.Youth Apprentice Leader
he/him Chad is a 7th grader attending Westdale Middle. He is very independent and creative. He likes to draw and to read. In future he wants to attend Stanford University and get a degree in Architectural design. Then soon after become an architect.
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Imani M.Youth Apprentice Leader
she/her Imani Morris is a 7th grade student and Apprentice Leader at Westdale Middle School. She enjoys dancing and doing creative activities. Some of her goals are to graduate high school as valedictorian and to get a scholarship into college. She is a very fun loving person that also enjoys being around her friends and family. Her biggest influences are her parents who have helped her with anything she needed.
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Estrella V.Youth Apprentice Leader
she/her Estrella Vazquez is an 8th grader at Westdale Middle School. She loves to play volleyball, read, write, and paint. Estrella is so excited to change the culture of her school and see change.
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Sydni W.Youth Apprentice Leader
she/her Sydni L. Wheeler, is an 8th grader and Youth Apprentice Leader at Westdale Middle School. She’s an avid reader and is highly creative, writing songs and choreographing dance pieces. She enjoys hanging out with her friends and eating hamburgers! She’s not only creative, but also highly intelligent, keeping up with her grades and being a Duke T.I.P. Grand Scholar. She hopes that with Humanities Amped she can change the culture at school for the better!
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Brian PowellLab Teacher - Westdale Middle School
he/him bpowell1@ebrschools.org Brian Powell is an English teacher at Westdale Middle School. Brian earned his Masters in Education from Boston Teacher Residency, where he also served as a City Year corps member. He is the English Department Head at Westdale, a recent alumnus of the Fulbright program Teachers for Global Classrooms, and has collaborated with Humanities Amped since 2016.
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Tareil GeorgeAmped Community Educator
she/her tareilg@humanitiesamped.com Tareil George is a graduate of McKinley Senior High School following her third year with Humanities Amped . She is working hard to make her family proud. She’s also working on her own non profit organization to help expand the next generation’s leadership skills. She has presented at various conferences, including the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s arts-in-education conference. Tareil wants to attend the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and one day get her PhD. Tareil is continuing to achieve her mission.
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Sha'kerrah F.Youth Apprentice Leader
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Ian R. P.Youth Apprentice Leader
he/him Ian Ramos-Paez goes to Westdale Middle School and is an Apprentice Leader at Humanities Amped. The reason why he wants to be an Apprentice Leader is because he wants to help those who need help.
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Sheila CollinsTeacher - Westdale Middle School
she/her scollins7@ebrschools.org Sheila Collins has been teaching for 12 years and has taught all grades except third and seventh. She is a member of various organizations which support the educational and social-emotional needs of children. As a firm believer that "every child can learn," she continuously promotes and engages in restorative justice and healing practices so that students may have a voice and achieve their goals.
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