Steve Norlin-Weaver is a principal in the Minneapolis Public School District.  A former elementary teacher, he began his career in administration at Dhahran Academy, an international school in Saudi Arabia.  Now in the Minneapolis public school system, Steve is the principal at Field Community School.  Field partners with Hale School to form a K-8 program that has been in existence since 1971.  Field is the middle school campus.  Steve has presented at conferences at both the state and national level on the topics of advisory and transitioning to a middle school. 

Consultant Emphasis Areas:

• Planning for the middle school

• Advisory

Having taught math for 10 years at the middle level, Tami is currently working at South View Middle School in Edina, MN as Dean of Students and Athletic Director.  Tami has presented at middle level conferences on both the regional and state levels in the areas of math curriculum, teaming strategies and interdisciplinary course work.  Her strength is working with teams in implementing effective strategies for working together. Tami is well known for her passion toward middle level education and all that it offers to adolescents.

Consultant Emphasis Area:

• Teaming

Patrick Fox is Principal at St. Michael Catholic School, a 500 student PreK – 8 school in Prior Lake.  Patrick’s teaching and administrative experience includes working in a variety of educational environments including an alternative high school, middle schools, an adult education program, and a preK-8 school.  Patrick earned his MA and Ed.S. from the University of St. Thomas and has worked as an administrator since 1996.  Patrick joined the Minnesota Middle School Association in 2001 and serves on the state conference committee.

Consultant Emphasis Area:

• Middle School Philosophy

• Advisory

• Student Led Conferences

• Interdisciplinary Instruction

Kristi has been a sixth grade teacher in the Rochester School District since 1991 and has been at Kellogg Middle School since 1994. The team she is on consists of three teachers and approximately 95 students. She has completed a middle school licensure program when the school district made the move to the middle school concept in 1994. Through the years Kristi has presented at state middle school conferences with some of her colleagues. Kristi became a part of the Minnesota Middle School Board in the fall of 2001 and has taken on the roles of the board secretary and state conference registrations.

Consultant Emphasis Area:

• Student Led Conferences

Noel is currently the President of the Minnesota Middle School Association after serving as Treasurer for four years. He is the Principal at Central Middle School, located in the White Bear Lake Area School District. Noel has worked in a number of different areas in the educational world-English teacher, football, basketball, and track coach, yearbook advisor, speech advisor, School Psychologist, Dean of Students, Associate Principal, and finally as Principal.. He has a B.S. from Mankato State University, an Ed.S. from the University of Northern Iowa, and an Ed.D. from the University of St. Thomas.

Consultant Emphasis Areas:

• Vision/Mission

• Implementing the middle school

• Transition elementary to middle school

• Evaluating the middle school

• NCLB

Chris began teaching history at Kenyon-Wanamingo High School.  After four years of working with this age group as a teacher and coach, he accepted a position as an 8th grade history teacher at Marshall Junior High in Marshall, MN.  Middle level education was his true calling and it gave him the opportunity to work with a great population of students.  He completed his M.A. in 2000 and administrative certification in 2002 from Minnesota State University, Mankato.  In 2002 he began a position as an assistant principal for Marshall's Middle Level Schools. During this time he worked with staff to combine educational practice and staff from two buildings to form the new Marshall Middle School.  He was named Assistant Principal of the Year for the Southwest Division in 2005 and accepted an assistant principal position at Farmington Middle School East in Farmington, MN in the summer of 2005.  In the spring of 2006, he was named to the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Middle School Association.

Jason has taught 7th grade English at Dakota Meadows Middle School for eleven years. During his time at Dakota Meadows, he served as a grade level team leader and as a member of the site leadership team. Jason also spent one year as the Secondary Mentor for Mankato Area Public Schools. Jason has been actively involved in preparing and presenting professional development within the Mankato school district, at the graduate level, and at the National Middle School Association's national conferences.   He earned a B.S. in Communications Education from Bowling Green State University, Ohio and a M.S. in Educational Leadership from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Jason is currently working on an Ed.D. in Leadership from Saint Mary’s University.

Consultant Emphasis Area:

• Middle school philosophy/best practice

• Content area writing

• Teaming

Cindy Kucera - 
Highview Middle School

Cindy Kucera is the 7th Grade Dean of Students at Highview Middle School in Moundsview School district.  Cindy's experiences include teaching special education, serving as a middle school counselor, and dean of students for the past 6 years.  She earned a teaching degree in special education and her masters degree in school counseling at the University of St. Cloud.  Cindy was awarded the Outstanding Teacher/Citizen award in 2003 for her work in the areas of diversity and community outreach.

Consultant Emphasis Area:

• Advisory/Character Education

• Peer Mediation

• Targeted services - Strategies for at-risk

• Bullying and Harassment

A graduate of Mankato State, with majors in English, Speech and German, Jan Heyerdahl has taught in Buffalo since 1974. She joined the MMSA board in 1999, the same year she took an excursion with breast cancer.  Jan is a survivor and thriver who enjoys middle school students AND staff! She has presented at the MMSA State Conferences often and at the NMSA conferences in Philadelphia and Nashville. Her goal as an educator is to foster a love for lifelong learning.

Consultant Emphasis Areas:

• Effective use of team planning time

• Exploration

• Advisory

• Mentorship

Sue is a 7th and 8th grade Health Teacher at Discovery Middle School in Alexandria, Minnesota and has served as a MMSA Board member for over 13 years.  She is also in charge of MMSA publications and was the Co-Chair for Hospitality Committee for the National NMSA 2004 conference. Sue graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead MN in 1979 in Education (Physical Education &
Health) and received her masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a middle level endorsement from SCSU in 1991.
 

Presently the principal of Centennial Middle School in Lino Lakes, Minnesota, Jerry started his career as an Industrial Arts teacher in Wood Lake / Echo Public School. Moving to Redwood Falls, Minnesota brought an extensive background to the transition from a junior high to middle school program when the district built a new middle school (5-8) and high school (9-12). After teaching in Redwood Falls for sixteen years, Jerry assumed the principal role at the middle school for four years. Moving to Faribault, Minnesota in 1997 provided another opportunity to transition an existing 7-9 grade junior high toward a 6-8 grade middle school program. In 1999 the Centennial School District retained Jerry as principal to help formalize a 1,750 student middle school. Jerry has an extensive background in middle level development, scheduling aspects of middle schools, reading in the content areas and the process of transition to a middle school.

Consultant Emphasis Areas:

• Planning for the middle school

• Implementing the middle school

• Transition Elementary to Middle

• Scheduling

Lynn Scearcy – scearcyl@district112.org
District 112 Schools (Chaska)

Dr. Lynn Scearcy, Assistant Superintendent of District 112 Schools , Schools of Eastern Carver County (Chaska),  is a former principal of Minnetonka Middle School East, and worked with the University of Minnesota program for licensing school administrators for eight years..  Her administrative experience includes serving as an assistant principal at the junior and senior high levels, interim principal at the elementary level, principal of a junior high and a middle school, and now Assistant Superintendent/Chief Academic Officer.  Dr. Scearcy completed her Ph.D. in 1999 and explored transition issues for secondary school principals who move to new districts.  She has taught The American Middle School course, the Field Experience in K-12 Education course, and the Administrative Licensure seminar in the University of Minnesota’s licensing program for educational administrators,  and advised licensure candidates and graduate students.  Currently, Dr. Scearcy supervises principals in all of District 112 schools and oversees curriculum and instruction, assessment and testing and “other duties as assigned”!  District 112 is working on a major redesign of its secondary programs, grades 6-12, and using many middle level components for its secondary school reform initiative.  Dr. Scearcy is in her second three year term as a North Region Trustees for the Board of Trustees of the National Middle School Association, and has focused her NMSA work on providing support to north region middle schools and affiliate organizations as well as policy development at the local, state, and national level.

Consultant Emphasis Areas:

• Planning for the middle school

• Implementing the middle school

• Characteristics of the middle school student

• Characteristics of the middle school 

• Turning Points

• Middle school leadership

• Secondary school reform

• Policy development

Sandy has been an 8th grade Earth Science teacher in the Brainerd Schools for the past ten years.  During this time, she has been actively involved with the district’s mentoring program (CARE) for at-risk youth.  Sandy also serves on the Education Minnesota governing board for District 181. Springtime finds Sandy coaching junior high track. Sandy is excited about joining the MMSA board and helping to promote middle level education to others.

Consultant Emphasis Area:

• Student Led Conferences

• Differentiated Instruction

• Mentorship Programs for At-Risk Youth

Margaret Porter
Lakeville Middle School

Margaret has been a sixth grade teacher in Lakeville for the past 27 years. She started in a middle school from 1978-1982. Lakeville is now transitioning to the middle school concept in the fall of 2005 and has served as a member of the transition task force. She is very excited to return to the middle school concept and what it will offer sixth grade students. Margaret became a member of the Minnesota Middle School Association Board in the fall of 2004.

Consultant Emphasis Area:

• Transition to the middle school concept

Melissa Benjamin - mbenjamin@orono.k12.mn.us
Orono Middle School

Melissa Benjamin is a sixth grade social studies teacher at Orono Middle School.  She has a B.S. from Mankato State University in elementary education with a minor in middle school and also holds a master's degree from the University of St. Thomas in Learning Technology.  She has taught middle school students for over 15 years. .  Some particular areas of interest include innovative scheduling, advisory programs, and advocacy at the state level.  Melissa also serves on the Orono Education Association's executive board and is the communications chair for MetroWest UniServ's governing board. 

Consultant Emphasis Areas:

• Technology in and out of the classroom

• Advisory Programs

Jennifer currently serves as a Language Arts teacher at Oltman Middle School.  She completed her Education Specialist Degree from the University of St. Thomas in July, 2008, earned her Master's in Education from Saint Mary's University and her Bachelor of Science in English and Speech/Theatre teaching from Moorhead State University.  She has recently served as the Secondary Curriculum Coordinator in South Washington County Schools and one of her most significant projects was facilitating the transition to middle schools from junior highs to be implemented in the Fall of 2009.  She has been a classroom teacher since 1995.

Consultant Emphasis Areas:

• Transition to Middle School Model

• Middle School Philosophy
• Characteristics of middle school students
• Advisory
• Instructional Best Practices
• 6 + 1 Traits of Writing
• Writing to Learn in the content areas