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Established 1980
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About our Write Track™ Consultants/Trainers Each member of our consulting staff has an impressive background in curriculum and staff development. Every individual has been an educator for more than 30 years, and each brings to the Write Track™ a passion for teaching teachers to be more effective instructors of expressive language. Their commitment and dedication to the program and to the improvement of literacy standards in schools is what sets the Write Track™ apart from other programs. Our consultants bring to their clients an educational perspective that is influenced by their wide experiences in teaching, and a genuine belief that improved writing skills are the key to raising the overall quality of education in our nation’s schools.  Diane Gess, Ed.D.An educator since 1956, Diane combined a career as a teacher and administrator in New York State with national involvement. In addition to her responsibilities that included staff development and special projects for a large school system, Diane served as a member of the Executive Board of ASCD and is past President of the Nova University Alumni Association. Her writings, for a number of major educational publishers, cover topics on reading, language arts, career education, and social studies. She has also authored articles on computers in education and parenting education. Added to her credits are two nationally syndicated holiday television specials for which she wrote the screenplay and lyrics. An outgrowth of one of these productions, Sunshine Porcupine, was a book for young children. Dr. Gess has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from both the State University of New York at Oswego and from Nova University. She was the recipient of the New York State P.T.A Achievement Award, and was presented with the first ASCD National Award for Leadership Potential, an honor that recognized her visionary approaches to curriculum design and implementation. In the 1980s, Dr. Gess was an elected member of the National Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Board of Directors, and Executive Council. Diane is the co-founder of the Write Track™ and currently serves as the President of the company. Dr. Gess was awarded an honorary doctorate from Gratz College in recognition of her contribution to teachers and students in the teaching of writing in schools within the state of Pennsylvania and all the schools in the United States where the strategies of the Write Track™ program are used. Dianne McCune, Ph.D. With a background that includes more than thirty-five years of educational experience and numerous publications and awards, Dianne McCune has contributed greatly to the Write Track™ since joining us in 1997. Prior to this, she was a teacher, a director of the gifted program for her school district, and a member of the faculty at Ohio University. Dr. McCune has been a featured presenter for the Reading Literacy Conference, Washington, D.C., and has also presented at the World Congress on Gifted and Talented Education in Hong Kong, Toronto, and Salt Lake City. Among her many honors is her membership in the Ohio University Hall of fame, and the Ohio University Outstanding Educator Award for Lifelong Learning in 1994. Among Dr. McCune’s published works are the Good Apple publications: Welcome Back to the Good Year, Where’s My Bed? and Gifted Go Thinking. As a Write Track™ senior national consultant, Dianne is best known for her energetic and creative approach to teaching. Her audience has consistently praised her ability to motivate teachers and students with her high expectations and sense of humor.  Janina (Jan) MeleA thirty-year veteran in education and a senior consultant for the Write Track™, Jan brings to her audience a wealth of experience that ranges from teaching high school chemistry to being a published author and a nationally known staff developer. Jan is also an adjunct professor with the New Jersey College of Education and Gratz College in Pennsylvania for the course, Teaching Writing and Thinking Across the Curriculum, a Write Track™ offering. For the past ten years, Jan has been both an instructor and an instructor-trainer for the Regional Training Center in Randolph, New Jersey, where she teaches courses in writing, cooperative learning, and expanding student thinking. She holds credentials as a Kagan Cooperative Institute trainer and is the author of Cooperative Learning and High School Science. As a Write Track™ senior national consultant, Jan has been given high marks for being a warm, creative, and skillful trainer who can relate well with both teachers and students in either a secondary or elementary school setting.  Jerilyn (Jerri) NeduchalA veteran teacher with three decades of educational service, Jerri Neduchal is a seasoned presenter who peppers her training sessions with enthusiasm and humor. After teaching both secondary school English and learning disabled students in grades 2-12, Jerri began a career as a staff developer for FDLRS (Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resource Systems). Her work brought her into contact with the University of Kansas Center for Research in Learning and she was asked to become a National Professional Developer. Subsequently, she became a National Professional Development Leader for the Strategic Instructional Model (SIM) and the SIM Content Enhancement Projects. In 1994, as a result of her exemplary work, Jerri was awarded he National SIM Leadership Award. She has worked collaboratively with the Florida Department of Education office of School Improvement on the A+ Schools Project and has been a demonstration teacher for the teaching of writing in the Orlando FDLRS Consortium. Prior to leaving public education and joining the Write Track™ as a national consultant, Jerri taught the course, Achieving High Literacy Standards through Writing, to new teachers beginning their service in Write Track™ schools that FDLRS serves in Central Florida.  Katherine (Kathy) Thompson-BurnsA professional educator since 1966, Kathy Thompson-Burns brings a wide and rich background to the Write Track™. Having taught all grades in a variety of schools in Massachusetts and Florida, Kathy is a master teacher who has served as an academic coach, a reading teacher, and a district writing coach for schools with special needs. For the past 13 years, Kathy Thompson-Burns has worked with Write Track™ materials as a trainer for her district. Most recently she has become a national consultant for the Write Track™. Among Kathy’ s credits is her authorship of two books published by the Write Track™: Easy Writer™ D and Easy Writer™ E. Administrators and teachers have high regard for Kathy’s skills and her ability to reach reluctant learners. Her firm, but caring demeanor has resulted in dramatic writing improvements for the students in the schools she has mentored. 
Patricia (Pat) MarkertA dynamic and experienced educator with over 30 years in the classroom, Patricia Markert knows how to develop essential writing and thinking skills in each student and how to share that knowledge with teachers and students. Pat is an adjunct professor at Montclair State University and works with education majors in the study of literacy development and is also an adjunct professor with the College of New Jersey as an instructor for the Regional Training Center in Randolph, NJ, teaching Writing and Thinking Across the Curriculum, a Write Track™ initiative. She is a Rutgers-trained facilitator of the Family Science and Family Math programs and has been part of Rutgers University's Annual Conference on Reading and Writing since 1998. Her workshops on Writing Powerful Paragraphs, Vocabulary Development and Storytelling to Enhance Comprehension have been well attended and well received. Recipient of the 1987 NJ Governor Teacher of the Year Award, Pat has developed and presented a literacy workshop for the North Jersey International Reading Association. As a professional storyteller, Pat knows how language works and how to use it to reach and teach students of all ages. |
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