About the Presenters

As Senior National Director of Innovation and Insights at HMH, Dr. Amanda Patterson is a dedicated education advisor with extensive experience in various educational roles. Formerly serving as the Assessment/Research Director and Professional Development Instructor for DeKalb County Public Schools, GA, and an Adjunct Professor at Mercer University, Dr. Patterson holds a doctorate in leadership and administration with a minor in curriculum and instruction. With a robust background as a teacher, building/district administrator, and educational consultant, Dr. Patterson has dedicated her career to systemic school reform and transformation, demonstrating a deep commitment to improving educational outcomes and fostering academic excellence.

Dr. Jessica Huizenga is currently an Associate Partner for the Center for Model Schools and a former Interim Executive Director of Massachusetts at Latinos for Education. She spent 24 years of her career in public education, serving in various roles as a classroom teacher, department chair, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, and state receiver appointed by the Commissioner of Education, and as a superintendent of school districts in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Throughout her career, she focused on ensuring high-quality and equitable instruction for students, and the school districts she led saw improvements in student performance and success. She consults and is a keynote speaker for school systems around the country in strategic planning, leadership team development, curriculum, instruction, assessment, using data to drive improvement, diversity, equity, inclusion, innovation, and turnaround schools. She has also served as an adjunct faculty member at Gordon College. Dr. Huizenga taught courses covering school law, curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and prepared future educators and leaders for service in public education. Dr. Huizenga holds a Master of Arts in educational administration, and her doctorate in leadership in schooling from the University of Massachusetts – Lowell, and an advanced certificate in diversity, equity, and inclusion from Cornell University.

For more than 20 years, Anthony Colannino has dedicated himself to creating atmospheres where adults and children feel happy, healthy, and successful. This work can be challenging at times but rewarding when schools, districts, and businesses create cultures where learning is the focal point. Anthony has worked in just about every school setting from the rural poverty of eastern Washington to the affluence of the Metro Boston area. Regardless of the size or socio-economic status of districts he has led or consulted, Anthony brings a contagious joy and passion to the important task of educating children, who will become our future. He takes great pride in the lives he’s been able to positively impact through teaching, leading schools, and supporting school leaders in districts big (Philadelphia, The Bronx, Compton, and Cincinnati) and small. Those lives include his students from Boston who now study law, medicine, and education at the highest university levels, the staff he has inspired to become better educators, and his clients who still reach out to him for support long after his consultancy has ended.

Anthony has developed his own education consultancy, Leading and Teaching for Growth, and worked at the e-learning company Dr. Carol Dweck co-founded, Mindset Works Inc., helping school districts across the country understand and operationalize Dr. Dweck’s growth mindset research through leadership development and improved teacher practice. He also served as an elementary school principal in the Boston area and taught fifth grade. Anthony lives with his wife and two children in a suburb of Boston. He continues to challenge himself while using a growth mindset to learn and grow. Recently, he learned how to ski on the mountains of New Hampshire and now dreams of snow, even when the sun shines brightly.

About the Moderator

Tyler Schlagenhauf is an education professional with extensive experience in product marketing and educational leadership currently serving as the Director of Product Marketing for the Center for Model Schools. Before transitioning into product marketing, Tyler spent nearly six years in the Anchorage School District in Alaska, serving as Dean of Students and elementary educator. He began his teaching career in the Bering Strait School District in Gambell, Alaska. Tyler holds a Master of Education in administration and organizational leadership from Grand Canyon University and a Bachelor of Education in elementary education and teaching from Minot State University. He lives in Boise, ID with his wife, Heidi, and one-and-a-half-year-old, Oslo.