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Meet the 2011-12 cohort of Fisher Fellows: find out what roles they held prior to the fellowships, and learn why they want to be a school leader with KIPP.

Click here to learn more about the Fisher Fellowship.

Andy Bobowski

Plans to open a middle school in Memphis, TN

Prior to beginning his Fisher Fellowship, Andy taught Memphis’ most amazing 5th graders Social Studies at KIPP DIAMOND Academy in Memphis, TN. As a Miles Family Fellow, he also served as the Director of Saturday School. Before joining the KIPP family, he taught Spanish at East High School as a Teach For America Corps Member. During the first two years of his teaching career, he started and coached East High’s first varsity soccer team and served as co-chair of Tomorrow’s Optimum Performing Scholars, where he analyzed school-wide student performance data to develop and set direction for an after-school tutoring program. As a TFA Corps Member, Andy served as the Foreign Language Learning Team Leader, Corps Member Advisor at the Atlanta Institute, and was selected as the regional nominee for the Sue Lehmann Excellence in Teaching Award. Andy received a B.A. in history with a minor in Spanish from the University of Richmond and an M.A.T. in Secondary Education from Christian Brothers University.

Emily Carroll

Plans to open an elementary school in New York City, NY

Emily is currently teaching fifth grade writing and serving as the writing content leader at KIPP AMP Academy in Brooklyn, New York. She also worked this year to set up an advisory program at AMP that serves all students four days a week.  Her teaching career began in 2004 as a Teach for America corps member teaching 1st grade for two years at P.S. 18 in the South Bronx.  In 2006, she headed to Brooklyn to be one of the founding lead 1st grade teachers at Leadership Prep Charter School, a part of the Uncommon Schools charter network.  At Leadership Prep, she created the reading and writing curriculum for the 2nd grade and also served as the 2nd grade team leader.  Emily received her B.S. in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis, her M.A.T. from Pace University, and her M.Ed in Education Policy and Management from Harvard Graduate School of Education.  Next year she will be a part of the Fisher Fellowship cohort working to open the next elementary school in New York City.  She cannot wait to let the learning and growing begin!

Emily Cook 

Plans to open an elementary school in Gaston, NC

Emily Cook taught for six years in Helena, Arkansas with KIPP Delta, where she wore the hats of Fifth Grade Reading Teacher and Fifth Grade Team Leader at KIPP Delta College Preparatory School, Founding Kindergarten Teacher and Phonics Coordinator at KIPP Delta Elementary Literacy Academy, and 2009-2010 Miles Family Fellow.  Originally from Salisbury, North Carolina, Emily attended the University of North Carolina (Go Heels!) and is also an alumna of Teach For America.  Last year, she took a brief hiatus from the KIPP world to earn a Master’s degree in School Leadership from Harvard University; she is excited to return to the fold this year as a Fisher Fellow!

Laura Farber

Plans to open a middle school in Austin, TX

Laura spent the past year working with 5th and 6th graders as the Assistant Principal at KIPP Austin Academy of Arts & Letters, the second middle school at KIPP Austin.  Prior to joining KIPP, she worked with YES Prep North Central in Houston, Texas.  There she taught a combination of reading, writing, and social studies, and served as the 6th grade level chair.  Before working with KIPP and YES, Laura was a 2006 Teach for America Corps Member working at MacArthur middle school in Houston, Texas.  There she was a fourth grade self contained teacher.  Laura received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame, and her M.A. in School Leadership from the University of Houston.  She is excited to embark upon her Fisher Fellowship, as she prepares to open the next KIPP Austin middle school!

Ashley Ferguson

Plans to open an elementary school in Jacksonville, FL

Ashley is coming to KIPP with many years of education experience in both New York City and Atlanta. Ashley began her teaching career with Teach For America where she taught 2nd grade for two years and then worked as a Program Director. In 2006, she returned to the classroom to teach 3rd grade and served as the Parent Instructional Support Coordinator and the Title I Coordinator. Ashley was then accepted into New Leaders for New Schools and served as the Principal-in-Residence for Achievement First East New York Elementary School before becoming the Principal at PAVE Academy Charter School in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Ashley earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication from the University of Cincinnati, her Master’s Degree in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment from Walden University, and her Certificate in School Building Leadership from Baruch College in NYC. Ashley has been married for eight years, has a 10-month old daughter, and a dog. Ashley and her family are looking forward to new beginnings in Jacksonville. Ashley will be a Fisher Fellow this year and is looking forward to joining the KIPP family!

Reginald Greene

Plans to open a middle school in Los Angeles, CA

Currently, Reginald serves as Interim Assistant Principal at KIPP Academy of Opportunity in Los Angeles, California. Reginald successfully completed his tenure as a Miles Family Fellow splitting his leadership development between KIPP AMP Academy and KIPP Infinity in New York City. Reginald is not new to KIPP as he has been a member of the KIPP Family for the last five years in a variety of roles at KIPP AMP Academy. Reginald has been an instructor of fifth and sixth grade mathematics, 5th grade writing and 7th and 8th grade ethics. Reginald served outside the classroom as a grade level chair, Math department chair, instructional coach and Dean of Students. Reginald began his teaching career as a Teach for America corps member in Miami-Dade County (2004) teaching reading, writing, science and math to the fifth graders of Van E. Blanton Elementary in North Miami. At the age of fifteen, he attended Bard College at Simon’s Rock (the early college) and, upon transfer, received his B.A. (A.B) in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Reginald looks forward to the challenge that awaits him next year as he prepares to found a middle school in South Los Angeles.

Katie Hayes

Plans to open a middle school in Austin, TX

Katie Hayes is currently the 7th and 8th grade assistant principal at KIPP Austin College Prep (KACP). This is her fourth year working in an AP role, and her fifth year at KACP. During her first year, she was the 7th grade social studies teacher and grade-level chair. Before coming to KIPP, Katie spent two years teaching 7th and 10th grade social studies in Hughes, Arkansas. During her time in Hughes, she also started an after-school tutoring program as well as a community fitness team for women. Katie became interested in education through work in child and family policy during high school and college. She grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and graduated from the College of St. Benedict in central Minnesota with a B.A. in Political Science. While at St. Ben’s, she enjoyed running around the lake, rowing on the crew team, and serving on the student senate. Katie is looking forward to opening a KIPP Austin middle school in the fall of 2012.

Mekia Love

Plans to open an elementary school in Washington, DC

Mekia is currently serving as Vice Principal at KIPP DC: KEY Academy in Washington D.C., where she has worked for six years. During her time at KEY Academy, Mekia has also been a reading teacher, fifth grade chairperson, Saturday School coordinator and member of the KIPP Writing and Thinking Project. In 2008, she was recognized as a KIPP Kinder award winner. Prior to joining the KIPP team and family in 2005, she spent a year in Atlanta as a Teach For America recruitment director. Mekia was inspired to encourage others to teach our nation’s most underserved students as a result of three years teaching in the Mississippi Delta as a Teach For America corps member. She received her B.S. in Journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an M.Ed from National Lewis University. Mekia eagerly anticipates learning about elementary school leadership throughout the Fisher Fellowship year.

Luzdivina Lozano

Plans to open an elementary school in San Antonio, TX

Luzdivina is currently serving as principal of IDEA Academy Mission, a dual language primary in Mission, TX. As an instructional leader and coach, Luzdivina ensured 334 K-2 students received a rigorous and meaningful education. She has taught Kindergarten and Pre-K for 8 years. In 2008, Luzdivina served as a founding Kindergarten teacher and team leader. In 2009, she was selected to help lead her campus as an assistant principal. As AP, she led the Student Success Committee, a committee whose focus it is to identify and address the needs of struggling learners. Luzdivina strives to ensure all students, specifically English language learners, will receive an education that will prepare them for success on the road to and through college. She plans to found KIPP San Antonio’s first dual language primary in 2012. She believes the school will pave the way for the future of children in San Antonio by facilitating the instruction they need and deserve in two languages. Luzdivina earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Texas Pan American in the year 2000. She’s currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Educational leadership from Lamar University.

Jamee Lynch

Plans to open an elementary school in Jacksonville, FL

Jamee spent the last year working at KIPP NYC as a Leadership Fellow. She worked at KIPP Academy Middle and KIPP Academy Elementary schools coaching teachers and providing intervention support for students. Before joining KIPP, she worked as a school leader for ten years in the Wake County Public School System in Raleigh, NC. Her leadership roles include serving as principal at East Wake (High) School of Integrated Technology, principal at Hodge Road Elementary School, and founding principal of Sanford Creek Elementary School. She also taught English at Lejeune High School (Camp Lejeune, NC) and Garner High School in Wake County. One of her proudest moments was being named the Wake County (NC) Principal of the Year in 2006 and the North Central Region (NC) Principal of the Year in 2007. Jamee received her B.A. in Journalism from UNC-Chapel Hill; her M.Ed. from the University of South Alabama; her Master of School Administration from Fayetteville State University; and her Doctor of Education from NC State University. She is thrilled by the opportunity to create an elementary school that will begin the journey to and through college for Jacksonville’s children!

Kate Mazurek

Plans to open a middle school in Chicago, IL

Kate Mazurek was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She received her B.A. in History and Mathematics from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and earned a Master of Education in Language and Literacy from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Mazurek began her teaching career with Teach For America at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Atlanta, GA. After two years of teaching in Atlanta, Kate returned to the Midwest to run a 21st Century After-School program for Sherwood Elementary School on the south side of Chicago. After going to graduate school for a year, she then began teaching at KIPP Ascend Charter School in Chicago. During her three years as a teacher at KIPP Ascend, she taught 5th and 6th grade Writing and 7th and 8th grade ELA, coached basketball and volleyball, and was both a grade level chair and the ELA Department Chair. For the past three years, she was the Upper School Principal at KIPP Ascend. Kate plans to open KIPP Chicago’s second Middle School in the Fall of 2012.

Rachelle Minix

Plans to open a middle school in Los Angeles, CA

Rachelle is currently a RSP teacher and Special Education department chair at Locke Launch to College Academy in south Los Angeles. Rachelle helped Locke to transition its students from a traditional district high school into a smaller, independent Green Dot charter beginning in 2009. As part of this process, Rachelle has helped make replicable and sustainable systems to support the integration of students with special needs, participated in hiring panels, mentored new and struggling teachers, spearheaded multiple fundraising ventures, helped to craft Green Dot’s spectrum model for literacy intervention, and has taken on the role of Senior Class advisor. Prior to Green Dot, Rachelle spent three years teaching biology and coaching the girl’s soccer team at Locke High School, the school to which she was originally assigned in 2005 as a Teach For America Corps member. In 2008, Rachelle took on a full-time role as Assistant Director of The Kelter Center, a non-public agency, where she was responsible for many administrative tasks and educational endeavors, including teacher trainings and teacher mentoring and the administering and analyzing of full-scale academic assessment batteries. Rachelle received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Italian at the University of Pennsylvania, her M.A. in Special Education at California State University Dominguez Hills, and her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in educational psychology from the University of Southern California. Beginning this summer, Rachelle will officially join the KIPP family as a Fisher Fellow. She is both humbled by and extremely excited about the opportunity to work with such a talented, supportive KIPP team and to continue to play a role in the mission of bringing high-quality education to all children.

Tiffany Moore

Plans to open a middle school in Los Angeles, CA

Tiffany is currently an English Language Learner Intervention Specialist and coach at KIPP LA College Preparatory School in Boyle Heights, California. Prior to becoming a part of the KIPP team and family this past summer, she spent 4 years at Johnnie Cochran Middle School teaching English as a Second Language, serving as the ESL Department Chair, coaching an awesome step team, and organizing dozens of school and community events. Tiffany was also a 2006 Los Angeles Teach For America corps member and has worked at three consecutive Summer Institutes as a Corps Member Advisor once, and a School Director twice. She received a Bachelors of Arts in Liberal Studies with a minor in History from Azusa Pacific University and her Master’s degree from Loyola Marymount University in Secondary Education. Tiffany is elated about founding a school in South L.A. because with an excellent education, the children will be afforded the same, if not better, opportunities she was given in life. They deserve the best!

Lindsay Schambach

Plans to open an elementary school in Newark, NJ

Lindsay is currently teaching fourth and fifth grade language arts to 70 students at Newton Street School in Newark, NJ. At Newton Street, she serves as the Chair of the School’s Leadership Committee and the Chair of the Positive Behavior Support Team. Prior working at Newton Street School, Lindsay worked for two years at Dr. Martin Luther King, also in Newark, teaching Science and Language Arts. During her time in Newark, she has served in many roles including leading the Professional Development Team and Data Teams, as well as serving as a liaison between the Global Village School Zone and the teachers in her schools. Lindsay received her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Sociology from Loyola College in Maryland. In 2007, she received the Prudential Fellowship which allowed her to pursue her Master’s in Public Administration with a focus In Urban Educational Leadership from Rutgers University, Newark. Next year, Lindsay will be preparing to open the second elementary school for the TEAM network of schools in Newark, NJ and she is thrilled to get started!

Eric Schmidt

Plans to open a middle school in Houston, TX

Eric is currently teaching eighth grade science and is the head of the eighth grade Professional Learning Community (PLC) at F.M. Black Middle School in Houston, TX. During his time at F.M. Black, he has also served as the 2009 summer school principal and he has been the boys’ soccer coach for four years. During the 2008-2009 school year, he was named the campus Teacher of the Year. Last year, he led a transformation of the PLC leader responsibility at the school and wrote a grant to help fund a new student incentive program related to student organization and responsibility. In May of 2011, Eric will graduate from Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business with a Master of Business Administration as a member of the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program (REEP). He is a 2007 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received a B.A. in International Studies and a minor in Spanish. Eric looks forward to leading a KIPP school in the northwest side of Houston, TX and expanding the opportunities for children in the area.

Mini'imah Shaheed

Plans to open an elementary school in Atlanta, GA

Mini’imah is a 2001 Teach For America (TFA) alumna who currently serves as an assistant principal at J.E. Richards Middle School in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Gwinnett County Public Schools is the 14th largest school district in the nation and 2010 winner of The Broad Prize in Urban Education. During her TFA service, she taught second grade in Atlanta and has continued to demonstrate her commitment to achieving educational equity in our nation by contributing to the Atlanta Summer Institute as a School Director. Prior to pursuing the Fisher Fellowship, Mini’imah was a founding board member of KIPP STRIVE Academy and worked alongside STRIVE’s school leader to foster community support and recruit prospective families. Mini’imah earned her B.A. in English Literature at the University of Pennsylvania and a M.A.T. in English Literature from Agnes Scott College. Next year, she will lead one of two charter KIPP Atlanta elementary schools—KIPP STRIVE Elementary Academy. Because Mini’imah shares the belief that “everything rises and falls on leadership,” she is both humbled by and enthusiastic about her selection as a Fisher Fellow.

Michael Shay

Plans to open an elementary school in San Antonio, TX

Michael is currently the founding 5th grade math teacher and Saturday School coordinator at KIPP Camino Academy in San Antonio, Texas. This year marked his 8th year teaching in San Antonio, and he has a huge heart for the city. Before joining KIPP, Michael taught 4th grade students at Hawthorne Academy in downtown San Antonio. He also served as a grade level chair, area leadership team representative, and mentor teacher for graduate interns. Michael enjoys working beyond the classroom to improve schools, from serving on the PTA board to founding a Critical Friends Group on his campus, coaching chess club to leading character education initiatives. He has received three degrees from Trinity University – a B.A. in Humanities, an M.A.T. in Elementary Education, and an M.Ed. in School Administration. When not at school, Michael loves spending time with his wife, Lisa – a middle school reading teacher. He is thrilled to be in the Fisher Fellowship class of 2012, and he eagerly looks forward to starting a new KIPP dual-language elementary school in San Antonio.

Daniel Swersky

Plans to open a middle school in New York City, NY

Danny is currently teaching fifth grade mathematics and serves as the 5th grade team leader at KIPP STAR in Harlem, New York. He has loved teaching at 5th grade math at STAR for the past four years. As a Fisher Fellow, Danny will be working to create a school that combines student’s natural curiosity with the technological knowledge to create the 21st century. Between his second and third years at KIPP, Danny served as a Teach For America corps member advisor at the New York institute. Prior to joining the KIPP team and family Danny taught 6th grade self-contained general education in the Bronx at CS 67. Danny earned a Master’s degree from Pace University and will have a Master’s in administration from National Louis University by the end of spring. Danny earned his B.S. in human development from Cornell University in 2005. If you want to find Danny when he’s not working, he’ll likely be reading political blogs or following hockey.

Grace Williams

Plans to open an elementary school in Memphis, TN

Grace is currently an instructional coach at KIPP DIAMOND Academy in Memphis, Tennessee. She started her career in education with Teach For America teaching high school English as a 2003 Mississippi Delta corps member. She taught 9th grade English at Central High School in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, for two years and 11th and 12th grade English for an additional two years. In 2007, Grace came to Memphis to work on Teach For America staff as a Program Director. She spent two years supporting English, Science, and History teachers. In 2009, she became the Director of Teaching and Learning for Teach For America-Memphis. In the fall of that year, she was honored to be selected as a Miles Family Fellow and have an opportunity to join the KIPP. Grace is especially proud to have joined the KIPP team and family in the same year that one of her former students became a teacher at KIPP Delta Collegiate High School! She is eagerly looking forward to continuing her path to school leadership as a Fisher Fellow. Grace received her Bachelor of Arts in History from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.