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2013 Summer Institute Faculty

Dimitry Anselme is the Director of Program Staff Development at Facing History & Ourselves. He joined the staff in 1999 after teaching American & World History courses at Doherty High School in Worcester, and at Brookline High school for 8 years. In 2004, Dimitry became the High School Principal for the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School. He rejoined Facing History & Ourselves in his current position in 2007.

Mr. Anselme worked as an advisor for Gay/Straight Student Alliance in schools. He worked as a consultant for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Department of Education to support the needs of high school LGBT students. He has served on the Brookline high school task for Black Males Student Achievement.

Dimitry graduated from Clark University and received his Master of Education at the Harvard Graduate school of Education. He is originally from Haiti and grew up in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and has been living in the Boston area since 1985.

Marvin Berkowitz, Ph.D. is the inaugural Sanford N. McDonnell Endowed Professor of Character Education, and Co-Director of the Center for Character and Citizenship at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and University of Missouri President’s Thomas Jefferson Professor. He has also served as the inaugural Ambassador H.H. Coors Professor of Character Development at the US Air Force Academy (1999). Since 1999 he has directed the Leadership Academy in Character Education in St. Louis. He is author of You Can’t Teach Through a Rat: And Other Epiphanies for Educators (2012), Parenting for good (2005), editor of Moral education: Theory and application (1985) and Peer conflict and psychological growth (1985), and author of more than 100 book chapters, monographs, and journal articles. He is founding co-editor of the Journal for Research in Character Education.

Scott Bezsylko, M.A., is the Executive Director of the Winston Preparatory Schools and The Winston Institute. He supervises the leadership teams at the New York and Connecticut schools both educationally and organizationally ensuring the delivery of ‘education for the individual’ -a model for socially and emotionally informed middle and high school learning disabled students. Scott is also a member of the Board of Trustees, the Board’s finance committee, and is currently leading the development of a research and outreach branch of the schools called “The Winston Institute”. Mr. Bezsylko is also a Co- Director of the Nonverbal /Social and Emotional Disorders Research Project, author of related research articles on NVLD and Social Emotional Learning, former adjunct faculty member at the Teachers College Columbia University Child Study Center, former Director of Education at The Janus School in Lancaster, PA, has been a faculty member at many of NSCC’s Summer Institutes, and is a member of the NYU Child Study Center Advisory Board.

Philip M. Brown, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Social and Character Development Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. His most recent publication is a chapter on evaluation in "Effective Character Education: A Guidebook for Future Educators". His accomplishments during his career directing programs in the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the New Jersey Department of Education included the creation of the first educational credential in substance abuse prevention and directing the largest state project in the country supporting the development of character education. He established the Center for Social and Character Development at Rutgers University through two consecutive federal grants under the NCLB Partnerships in Character Education program, conducting process and outcome research in schools throughout New Jersey on the development of social and character development programs.

Vanessa Camilleri is the Direct of Student Support Services on the leadership team at The Arts & Technology Academy Public Charter School in Washington DC. She is currently completing doctoral studies in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Maryland. She has presented and published widely and has consulted with schools and charter school start-up organizations.

Richard Cardillo is the co-director of the Summer Institute and Education Director of the NSCC. Rich has over two decades of experience as a classroom teacher, rural community organizer, public spokesperson, founder and administrator for social emotional learning/ character education programs, senior member of community-based organizations, fundraiser, college teacher in Perú and developer of community service learning programs. He is a native of New York, fluent in both Spanish and American Sign Language, and brings an entrepreneurial spirit and vision to his work. He is the past New York Regional Director of Peace Games, Director of Client Services at God’s Love We Deliver in New York and has been a classroom teacher in elementary, middle and high school. Richard received his Masters Degree from Columbia University.

Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D. is the Co-Director of Summer Institute, co-founder and President of the National School Climate Center (NSCC); co-founder/co-chair (with Terry Pickeral) of the National School Climate Council; Adjunct Professor in Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University; Adjunct Professor in Education, School of Professional Studies at City University of New York; and co-author and editor of many papers and books including Educating Minds and Hearts: Social Emotional Learning and the Passage into Adolescence (1999) and Making your School Safe: Strategies to Protect Children and Promote Learning (2007). He is also a practicing clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst. He lectures and consults to schools, districts, State Departments of Education, U.S. Department of Education and foreign educational ministries.

Bill DeHaven was appointed as Winston Preparatory School NY's third Head of School in 2007. Bill graduated from Emory University with an undergraduate degree in Biology and from Teachers College at Columbia University with a Masters in Learning Disabilities. Before joining the Winston Preparatory School as Assistant Headmaster in 1998, Bill spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali, and five years as a New York City public school teacher.

Peter DeWitt, Ed.D. has been a principal in Upstate, NY since 2006. Before becoming a principal he taught elementary school for eleven years. His syndicated blog Finding Common Ground is published by Education Week and he is a freelance writer for Vanguard Magazine (SAANYS). His articles have appeared in education journals at the state, national and international level. He has written for Principal Magazine, Education Week, Educational Leadership, The Huffington Post, ASCD Whole Child, Connected Principals, Smartbrief and ASCD Express. He has been an educational consultant on News Channel 13 and has appeared on a wide range of other forums, including PBS and ABCnews.com.

Darlene Faster is the Director of Communications at the NSCC. She is an advanced doctoral student in Disability Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, focusing on Educational Policy. Her research and policy interests include understand¬ing and improving the social and emotional development of students with learning disabilities as well as implementing successful transitional supports for students from high school to postsecondary life. Darlene has done preliminary research in urban schools in Chicago and New York, and worked with the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) before joining the NSCC.

Jo Ann Freiberg, Ph.D. is a consultant at the Connecticut State Department of Education, manages school climate improvement, bullying and character education. Her doctoral work at The Ohio State University was in professional and classroom based ethics. Her professional career as a classroom teacher, teacher educator and national consultant has been devoted to empowering the adults who teach and work with children to exemplify ethical and respectful behavior in order to create physically, emotionally and intellectually safe and positive learning environments. A member of the Connecticut task force on bullying, she also serves on the National School Climate Council.

Elizabeth Mendelsohn is the Director of Research and Educational Development for the Winston Preparatory Schools, a program for 5th-12th graders with learning differences, with campuses in New York City and Norwalk, CT. A graduate of Teachers College’s Reading Specialist program and Vanderbilt University’s Special Education program, Elizabeth has worked with a diverse population of students with learning differences over the last 13 years as an administrator as well as a teacher in the classroom and one-to-one. Prior to her current position at the Winston Preparatory Schools, Elizabeth directed their school-wide one-to-one remediation program. She is a frequent presenter and faculty trainer for teachers and professionals who assess and remediate students with nonverbal learning disabilities, dyslexia and executive functioning difficulties.

Terry Pickeral is the co-chair of the National School Climate Council and a senior consultant to NSCC. He is also the president of Cascade Educational Consultants and provides leadership in: youth engagement, school climate, civic development education policy; state and district leadership to sustain quality citizenship education service-learning, and education reform that focuses on student and community engagement. Pickeral works with international, national, state and local organizations to advance an equitable youth engagement, school climate and civic mission of school agenda focusing on policies, practices and collaborations. He authors and co-authors books, chapters and articles on the civic mission of schools, school climate, the academic alignment of service-learning, school and community collaborations, K-12 and higher education collaborations and service-learning and civic education policy.

Randy Ross is an Equity & Diversity Specialist at the New England Equity Assistance Center, The Education Alliance at Brown University. Randy’s work focuses on implementing the Equity-Centered School Climate Model, which includes the importance of distinguishing between bullying and discriminatory harassment. She provides training and technical assistance to schools, districts, and state departments of education on gender equity, cultural proficiency, social-emotional learning, and stakeholder collaboration. Previously, Randy worked for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of Bias Crime and Community Relations, where she initiated and led “New Jersey Cares About Bullying,” a statewide, state-sponsored coalition. She received her B.A. and M.A. in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.S. in Educational Leadership from the Bank Street College of Education in New York City. Randy is a member of the National School Climate Council.

Beth Sugerman, M.S., CCC-SLP, has acted as Head of School at Winston Preparatory School’s Norwalk, CT campus since its September 2007 opening. Ms. Sugerman received her Bachelors of Science in Speech and Language/Audiology at Marymount Manhattan College and received an M.S. in Speech and Language Pathology at Teachers College Columbia University. Along with Winston’s Executive Director, Scott Bezsylko, Ms. Sugerman facilitated development of the school’s ‘Focus Program’, considered the hallmark of Winston’s remedial methodology. Ms. Sugerman has been a member of the Winston community since 1997 and has held roles including Focus Program Director, Admissions Director, College/Transition Coordinator and Director of Research and Development.

David B. Wangaard, Ed.D. is the Executive Director of The School for Ethical Education (SEE). Prior to earning his doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Northern Colorado, David was a K-12 school principal in Alaska. He has been applying his character education strategies in schools since 1984. Dr. Wangaard has taught junior high and high school math, sponsored student councils and student led community service projects, coached track, co-lead student foreign travel and led summer wilderness canoeing trips. Dr. Wangaard brings these eclectic interests to SEE recognizing how ethics and character are promoted in a variety of learning environments.