
Bill Schmitt
Executive Director &
Science Partner
Bill's career includes over 26 years experience as Education
Director and
Vice-President for Education in two Science Museums: The Center of
Science
and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio and the Pacific Science Center
in
Seattle. He lead the development of several nationally renowned
efforts
including designing Kidspace which is one of the most copied
exhibits for
young children and was the founder of the Camp-In concept for
Museums. He
directed other programs including outreach van programs and teacher
development efforts. He also directed the development of the Galaxy
Classroom K-5 Science Curriculum produced by Hughes Aircraft
Company.
Galaxy became a Systemic Reform Model that documented highly
significant
learning gains, especially by those students considered at-risk, as
measured
in an independent controlled evaluation by WestEd. In his current
role with
The Science Center of Inquiry, he is helping merge experiences from
formal
and informal education to develop and distribute inquiry-based
science
investigations that support life-long achievement by all students.
Through
these efforts, all students are invited to be active partners as
young
scientists in awesome and inspiring adventures to investigate and
understand
Nature.

Judy Schmitt
Business Manager
Judy served as President of BJS Farms, Inc. for 24 years. In that
position she managed, directed, and participated in the production
of products for youth science programs at the Center of Science and
Industry in Columbus, Ohio. She is a registered nurse. Most
recently she has volunteered with the local chapter of the American
Red Cross in their disaster health services area acting as
chairperson in 2001.She brings expertise in product development,
materials management, and production. In her current position, she
manages the daily operation of the Science Center including data
management, finances and bookkeeping, and customer service.
Executive
Committee

Chris Anderson
Chair
A K-12 classroom teacher turned developmental
psychologist,
Christopher Andersen focuses his research and teaching around
translating psychology research into educational practice. After
teaching music, science, math, and self-contained classroom in
Venezuela and New York City, his interests in understanding
children's thinking led him to graduate study at Columbia University
(M.A. in education, M.Phil. and Ph.D. in developmental psychology).
His research examines student inquiry across the curriculum, using
microgenetic methodology to study the development of reasoning
strategies. He has a particular interest in learning in informal
education settings and has worked in museums, educational video and
television production, toy design, and software development. He is
currently an assistant professor in the School of Teaching and
Learning at The Ohio State University, where he teaches courses on
science education, cognitive developmental and educational
psychology, and informal education. He regularly collaborates with
colleagues at NASA Classroom of the Future, the Universitat de
Barcelona (Spain), and the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios
Superiores de Monterrey (Mexico) on distance education and web-based
projects. He is active in national educational organizations,
serving
on the National Science Teachers Association's Aerospace Programs
Advisory Board and Committee on Informal Science Teaching as well as
the American Educational Research Association's Informal Learning
Environments Research Special Interest Group.

Jim Brown
Vice Chair for
Development
Jim Brown has
over 20 years in elementary education, most of it focusing on
designing and implementing science curriculum. Over the course of
his career he has worked with Washington State’s Science Curriculum
Review Committee, the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
and the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, WA. Jim also worked for
a number of years with the GALAXY Classroom science curriculum
project, a national non-profit foundation encompassing over 600
schools in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. While a member of
the staff, he assisted in designing many components of the science
curriculum as well as managing specific curricular areas. Jim has
presented on several occasions at the National Science Teachers
Association National Conference on aspects of elementary science
integration. Jim served on the Board of Directors and as Chairman of
the Board for the Mount St. Helens Foundation for Education, a
non-profit education organization in collaboration with the Mount
St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Prior to this, Jim had his
own science consulting company emphasizing parent/child hands-on
explorations and investigations. The company was highly successful,
receiving tremendous support for programs throughout the Northwest.
For his work in elementary science education, Jim received the Award
of Merit from the Association of Science Technology Centers (A.S.T.C).

Barb
Gessaman
Secretary
As a Pre-K – 8 certified
classroom teacher, Barbara has worked in the classroom for most of
34 years primarily in kindergarten. In addition to a masters degree
in Early Childhood Education, she also has a degree in Science
Education. She has also taught, conducted, and supervised science
and technology workshops for teachers at The Center of Science and
Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio. This included the COSI overnight
Camp-In programs, and the Y.E.S. – Young Experimental Science
Program. She took three years out of the classroom to be COSI’s
Vice President for Education & Special Programs responsible for all
phases of educational programs and workshop development in science.
While in the classroom, part
of her time was devoted to being a Clinical Educator for Ohio State
University guiding the student teacher and the cooperating teacher,
as the student progressed through a year of interning in the
classroom. Barbara has also been the Resource Teacher for
Berwick Science /Math/Environmental Studies Alternative School in
Columbus, Ohio. This was one of the first schools of its kind and
it won several NSTA Awards for science teaching excellence. Barbara
helped in the design of curriculum, philosophy, and goals for the
school and participated in its development, evaluation and
implementation. Presently Barbara is teaching kindergarten at
Parkmoor Urban Academy – Columbus,Ohio. Parkmor is a teaching and
learning school where teachers are involved in continuous
professional development for their own teaching improvement and to
assist other educators with their teaching and learning.

Delores Nance
Treasurer
Ms. Nance is the principal
shareholder in the firm of Delores I. Nance CPA, PC located in
Tempe, Arizona. She is a certified public accountant and certified
financial planner. Ms. Nance received her undergraduate degree from
the University of Arizona and holds a Master of Healthcare
Administration from the University of Mississippi and a Master of
Taxation from Arizona State University. She has an extensive
background in estate and income tax planning and tax preparation.
Her areas of specialization include trust and estate taxation, trust
funding, charitable trusts, private foundations and public
charities.
She also has an extensive
background in non-profits, the healthcare industry and financial
services. She was the administrator of Lincoln Community Hospital in
Colorado and served as Case Management Program Manager for the
Arizona Long Term Care (ALTCS) program. While at Bank One she
practiced in the areas of trust (fiduciary) and estate taxation and
accounting. Recent publications include articles on trust funding
and on supporting communities through charitable giving in AZCPA,
the Arizona Society of CPAs monthly magazine.
She is a faculty member at
the University of Phoenix. During 2003, she received the
Distinguished Faculty award for undergraduate business from the
University of Phoenix. Ms. Nance is also a volunteer with the
Arthritis Foundation Greater Southwest Chapter and active in several
professional associations, including Soroptimist International of
Phoenix.
Cindy Sanderson
Vice Chair for
Marketing/Partnerships
Cindy Sanderson is president of the LastWord, a
marketing communications, training and curriculum development
company based in Dayton, Ohio. For the last seventeen years,
she has been servicing a multitude of corporate and non-profit
organizations in the Dayton and Cincinnati area.
Ms. Sanderson interest in science curriculum
development began while working for Mazer Corporation. Here
she was introduced to the Galaxy Classroom where she worked
extensively on the teacher and student materials for Galaxy
Classroom series , "Fixer-Uppers" and "SNOOPS." She also
supervised the editing of materials for the "Movers and Shakers"
series.
Larry Welch
Vice Chair for
Production/Delivery
Board Members
Larry Lebofsky

Mitzi Lewison
Mitzi Lewison is an Associate
Professor of Language Education at Indiana University. She has been
awarded seven research grants over the past six year, focusing on
different aspects of professional development for language arts
teachers. Her current research interests focus on ways to improve
instruction through teacher study groups; how teachers conceptualize
writing instruction and children’s writing development; the problems
and potential of using of children’s multicultural literature,
emphasizing social and political issues in elementary classrooms;
and analyzing the power relationships in school-university
partnerships. Before coming to IU, Mitzi spent five years developing and implementing a Language Arts
curriculum and accompanying professional development program for the
GALAXY Classroom, a non-profit foundation with students and teachers
in 400 schools across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Prior
to this, she held positions Montebello Unified School District, a large urban district in
Southern California, as a bilingual teacher, reading and
language specialist, middle school assistant principal, and district
language arts consultant. She received the Trustee’s Teaching
Award for the last three years at Indiana University.

LaMoine Motz
Dr. LaMoine Motz is the Director of
the OSMTech (Oakland Schools Science, Mathematics and Technology)
Center, the regional education service agency for the 28 local school
districts of Oakland County, Michigan. He also teaches at the college
level and consults on K-12 science education curriculum,
instruction, evaluation, and science facility planning and design. His
career has included service as a high school biology, chemistry
and mathematics teacher and as an elementary school science teacher. He
holds a BA in biology and chemistry from Taylor University, a master’s
degree in teaching science and science education from Western Michigan
University, and a PhD in science education from the University of
Michigan.
Dr. Motz has served as president of the Michigan Science Teachers
Association, the Metropolitan Detroit Science Teachers Association, and
the Michigan Science Leaders Association, and the National Science
Supervisors Association. In 1989, he was president of the National
Science Teachers Association. He also served as chair of the National
Advisory Board for the NSTA project on Scope, Sequence, and
Coordination. He currently serves as NSTA representative to the Science
Education Committee of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a co-contributor to
NSTA Pathways To The Science Standards: Guidelines For Moving The Vision
Into Practice. The National Science Teachers Association has presented
him with the Distinguished Service Award to Science Education. In 2002,
the Michigan Science Teachers Association bestowed upon him their
highest honor as recipient of the George G. Mollinson Award for Lifetime
Achievement in the Field of Science Education.

Bob
Rayburn
Bob’s career spans 23 years in
education, primarily as an elementary and middle school teacher. He
is currently on Special Assignment in the position of Educational
Technology Coordinator for the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School
District. He
is also a development consultant and instructor for UCLA in their
education extension department supporting their teaching intern
programs in the area of Science, Technology and the Arts.
Bob also acted as a curriculum development consultant for the Galaxy
Classroom K-5 Science and Language Arts Curricula produced by Hughes
Aircraft Company. This project documented highly significant
learning gains, especially by those students considered at-risk, as
measured in an independent controlled evaluation by WestEd.
Bob is also
the Founder and President of SMaRT Systems providing powerful
FileMaker Pro and Internet based data management solutions for
schools. SmaRT systems recently deployed a Server based report card
for the Lake Elsinore Unified School District. This solution
supports nearly 600 teachers (500 concurrent users) on the largest
single FileMaker Pro deployment in K-12 education.

Karl Schmitt
Karl has a very eclectic
background as a military hospital administrator,
healthcare information systems consultant, and formal training as an
attorney and as a health policy wonk. Through his extensive
education (BS,
JD, MS, and PhD ABD) he has dedicated his life to learning and to
creating
interventions to make organizations more effective. Karl has
recently
retired as a partner in a Seattle consulting firm and is now
operating a bed
and breakfast inn in SE Arizona that is located in a naturalist
paradise and
is frequented by birdwatchers from all over the globe.
Karl serves the Science Center as a trusted advisor and sounding
board for
ideas and concepts. Utilizing his extensive marketing and business
management disciplines he imposes a structured yet innovative logic
that
tests our goals, programs and approaches to teaching and learning.
Karl
gets more excited about the opportunities to stimulate learning
through
experiencial exploration than others because he has spent a lifetime
teaching the most difficult students: physicians, nurses and
administrators.
Karl is also an experienced grant writer and financial manager, who
has also
developed information technology solutions for large and complex
organizations.

Stu Schultz
Stu Schultz has
been active in education for 42 years. Stu taught Physics and
Chemistry at West Bloomfield High School as well as served as the
High School Science Chairman and eventually as the district Science
Coordinator. Stu became active on the national scene by presenting
over 30 sessions at NSTA and AAPT meetings. He became a PTRA,
Physics Teaching Resource Agent, with the American Association of
Physics Teachers. He became a trainer for the Operation Physics
program started by San Diego State University. He then moved on to
become an Operation Physics trainer-of-trainers sponsored by Western
Michigan University.
Stu developed
an integrated science program called “Space, Time and Spirit” to
address the challenge of unmotivated students at the ninth grade
level. This program was selected by General Motors Institute in
Flint, Michigan to be used in the nationally televised program
called “Tune in Math and Science”. Stu spent five years teaching on
live satellite TV with students in the studio.
After
retiring from West Bloomfield Schools, Stu worked with the Oakland
County Intermediate School District. Stu led teacher-training
sessions and wrote four workshop-training manuals on the geosphere,
hydrosphere, atmosphere and celestial sphere. Stu also provided
local “wrap around” TV programs for teachers participating in the
elementary science program, "Galaxy Classroom" and became a
national science adviser for the development of some of the new
Galaxy programs.
The
Presidential Award in Math and Science Teaching, The Metropolitan
Detroit Outstanding Teacher Award, The Milken Family Foundation
Award and the Disney Channel Salute to the American Teacher
recognized this work.
Stu’s most
recent project was to establish a “state of the art” science
department for the Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit. He put
into place a 9 – 12 grade curriculum, staff, classrooms, labs, lab
equipment and supplies. Upon the completion of three years, he
retired from the Academy. After rest and building their dream home
in northern Michigan he is looking for another interesting
challenge.

Brenda Wilson
Currently Ms.
Wilson works with Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space,
as Director of Content for her Sally Ride Science Club, a national
club to support the science interests of middle school girls.
Her interest
in children and children’s media began while still an undergraduate
at the University of Southern California School of Cinema. She was
hired by Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. to develop television
movies and mini-series and quickly learned that children’s
programming was her passion. She developed and co-produced three
award-winning children's specials. One of the specials she also
created, co-wrote and it was put into series development at CBS.
After leaving
the studios, she established a production company, Boomtown
Productions. At Boomtown, she created and co-produced a CBS movie,
then wrote and executive produced an award-winning ABC After School
Special.
In 1992, Ms.
Wilson produced an interactive series of science mysteries that was
satellited directly into classrooms. Since that time she’s been
committed to developing educational programming which is married to
curriculum, and in that capacity has held writer/producer positions
at Disney, Scholastic, TV411 and SpaceKids.com where she became the
Executive Producer.
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