Dr. Amy B. Miner, Ph.D, As a leading voice in education, Dr. Miner brings more than 35 years of K-16 experience as a teacher, district administrator, professor, consultant, and owner of In Focus Education Group. Dr. Miner has worked with schools, and districts throughout the country in various teaching and consulting capacities and brings her expertise in curriculum design, integrated instruction, and deep learning to address well-being learning opportunities. She led multiple teams in various states of educators in creating a Prekinder-Grade 12 curriculum as well as a professional learning series for educators supporting the adults that elevate students and families, and education systems. Dr. Miner brings strong presentation and training skills and is a sought after presenter at district, state, national, and international conferences. Her expertise in strategic planning and curriculum design brings relevance to research and practice based well-being solutions to education.
Dallen Miner has a masters degree in organizational development and 20+ years of business consulting and strategic training experience. Dallen has worked in a variety of industry segments including education, high tech, accounting, and international business. Dallen implements solutions to help organizations thrive, while instilling ownership with stakeholders, to develop solutions for organizational effectiveness.
Cassi Paul oversees our curriculum writers. Cassi taught elementary school for 8+ years, primarily in grades 3–5. She graduated with a B.A. in Elementary Education and minors in both Music and Teaching English Language Learners (TELL). She completed a M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership. She believes that teaching is all about people, relationships, and interesting content; when students and teachers feel loved and supported, incredible learning can take place.
Paige Wightman always wanted to be a teacher. After earning her B.S. in English Education, she moved on from pretend school with mom playing the role of student to a real life classroom, full of real life students. She taught English Language Arts and English as a Second Language for 7 years before working as a Teacher Specialist in her district’s Wellness Department. Her love of empowering students through education and passion for mindful teaching practices burns bright as she joins our curriculum writing staff.
Katherine Allsup has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She spent 5 years teaching 5th and 6th grade, primarily at a Title 1 school. Through her experiences there, she saw firsthand the importance of teaching children about social and emotional wellbeing in addition to traditional curriculum. Her priority as a teacher was to make every student feel safe and loved.
Shelby Thurgood earned her B.S. in Mathematics Education. She has taught multiple levels of Math at the high school level and has worked with English Language Learners and students in Special Education programs. She is very passionate about adapting all aspects of learning to the learner – meeting them where they are. She has seen the positive impact of learning social emotional learning skills in her own life and in the lives of her students.
Aubree Judkins has been a Professional School Counselor for over 20 years. Her passion is working in elementary education, advocating for underserved populations. She has spent years developing and facilitating a school counselor collaboration site where other counselors can access resources to facilitate Multi-Tiered, Multi-Domain Systems of Support and enhance systemic program design. Aubree enjoys developing creative and engaging curriculum to increase student and staff Well-Being. Additionally, she enjoys working as an adjunct instructor for UVU’s Masters of School Counseling program; teaching and mentoring the next generation of amazing school counselors.
Brooke Davis has been an educator since 2014. In her time as an educator, she has taught high school social studies, worked as a Professional Learning Coach, and served on leadership teams within her school and district. She is passionate about deep learning and the power that education can have for kids and communities!
Kayla Goodman has taught high school Family and Consumer Science for 7 years. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She believes that people are not their circumstances, there is always good to be found, and people are always worth showing up for. She loves to help teach students how to be self-sufficient and resilient.
Rachel Thompson taught high school English for 22 years before moving to the district curriculum department where she served 15 years as a secondary specialist. There, she worked to support secondary ELA teachers and new teachers. After getting her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction (with an emphasis on Technology), she shifted attention to how pedagogy could remain the focus while finding the right tools to enhance best instructional practices. Her expertise includes literacy, deep learning, problem-based learning, team building, student engagement, and social emotional well-being.
Reegan Alder has been teaching high school English and Art History for 9 years. She likes to focus on project-based learning and making education meaningful to students. With colleagues, she has developed curricula that focus on the 21st-century skills of collaboration, creativity, communication, and citizenship. She instructs teachers at a district and state level.
Paula Bearnson earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and, upon discovering an unexpected love of teaching, she earned a degree in Secondary Education. For the past 16 years, she has taught freshmen through seniors. She also enjoys teaching college-level composition, literature, and speech classes.
We believe that teachers have the answers. As educators we were “called” into this profession. We have a strong sense of our moral purpose, and know that our work is about changing lives, changing society, and changing the world.
Skipper Coates has been teaching 7th–9th graders for 16 years and has a passion for working with young teenagers. She believes strongly that teachers can support the social and emotional health of teens.
Dr. Evan Coates has been practicing as a mental health therapist/Clinical Social Worker and doctor of behavioral health for 15 years. He specializes in the treatment of adolescents and young adults who suffer from anxiety, depression, addiction, and trauma. Dr. Coates uses a variety of theories and skills with his patients, including mindfulness, meditation, journaling, and EMDR resourcing.
Cameron Wilson has been a high school and junior high school teacher for 7 years, teaching a variety of courses such as 7th-grade English Language Arts, Creative Writing, and AP Psychology. She holds a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction and a Bachelor of Arts in English. Cameron specializes in developing innovative, engaging curriculum that incorporates social-emotional learning and 21st-century skills across all content areas and grade levels.
Jessica Porter is a 5th-grade teacher. She has her endorsement in Gifted and Talented Education. Jessica has worked in the education field since 2003. She has 15 years of teaching experience in both public and private schools. Jessica has a passion for teaching and believes that the needs of the whole child should be addressed when teaching.
Aubrie Lundquist has been a 5th- and 6th-grade teacher for 10 years and is now working as an instructional coach. She is passionate about education and students. She loves creating an atmosphere for students to learn and grow in a safe environment. She has loved being a part of the curriculum writing team and seeing the amazing lessons and activities to strengthen our students and their wellbeing.
As a Prevention Specialist working in the field of addiction, abuse, and suicide prevention, I wholeheartedly support the In Focus Well-Being Curriculum. I have researched dozens of programs to implement in our area and In Focus provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date information, as well as easy to prepare lessons to implement for educators. The lessons speak to what we are facing and does not stray from the topic of student well-being. Addressing academic, social, emotional, and physical well-being, the comprehensive lessons allow for truly building resilience skills and meets all criteria we utilize in the field of prevention science.
Alyssa Young graduated in Human Development and Elementary Education. Alyssa taught for a year and then decided to stay home with her growing family, but will be rejoining the public school system after 10 years to teach 2nd grade at her kids’ school. She is passionate about social and emotional well-being, education, and helping all students develop knowledge, skills, and dispositions essential to succeed in the 21st century.
Tavia Bitters earned a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Teaching English Language Learners. She started teaching in 2015 and taught 4th grade for five years, while she pursued a Master’s degree in school counseling. She has been a School Counselor and Behavior Interventionist for two years. She is passionate about coping skills, Solution-Focused Brief counseling, and helping students maximize the positive effects of their relationships with friends and family.
Charlene “CJ” Savage received her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She has worked in the education field for 6 years as a paraeducator, and a 3rd-grade teacher. She tutors students on the side. Her passion as a teacher came from seeing her students grow and develop and work through hard problems, whether it was with academics or social emotional learning.
Miranda Schoenfeld graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 2013. She spent 7 years teaching 4th and 6th grade. She has always had a passion for helping children and sees such a need for social and emotional wellbeing lessons in our schools. Her priority as a teacher was to make sure every student felt safe and heard.
I have loved using the In Focus curriculum for our Online School. The lessons are rich with content that aligns with our identified well-being priorities. The ability to use specific lessons as stand alone interventions is fantastic. I have also enjoyed taking our students through the modules from Conditions to Competencies and finally Celebrations of well-being.
Sierra May received her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She received her Masters degree in Educational Technology with an emphasis in curriculum integration. Most recently, Sierra took the opportunity to work for Idaho’s State Department of Education as a Reading Coach, where she developed a passion for classroom coaching and literacy instruction. Social Emotional learning is near and dear to Sierra’s heart. She loves exploring new coping strategies to teach her young children.
Meagan Nielsen received her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and taught 1st grade for three years. She recently graduated with her Master’s degree in Instructional Design. Meagan has experience developing and teaching technology integration courses for Elementary and Early Childhood pre-service teachers. Her passion is supporting teachers so they can help their students have great learning experiences.
Marilee Woodfield has been teaching preschool for over 35 years, specializing for the last 16 years in how to bring literature and music to life in the classroom. In addition to her days filled with finger paints, science experiments, and small people, Marilee is the author of 21 resource books for preschool teachers. Marilee has a BS in Human Development and an MS in Family Studies and is currently teaching in the Educational Psychology department at the University of North Texas.
Kendra Crowley has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with four years of teaching experience. She has recently taken up designing educational materials for In Focus Education Group as well as her own small business. Kendra is responsible for designing and creating all of the supplementary materials, graphic organizers, and anchor charts for all In Focus lessons grades K–12.
Erin Swan is the founder and owner of Swan Content Services, and a young adult fantasy author with Tor Teen. She creates and edits content on a variety of topics daily, from taxes to technology and everything in between. She received a Bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in editing.
Jacob Householder is the owner of ArcFires Websites & Marketing, a website development business based out of Rexburg, Idaho. He is responsible for the development and maintenance of the In Focus Education Group website. ArcFires serves dozens of organizations spanning from nonprofits and educational organizations to e-commerce websites.