Pre-Summit XII Presenters

Jessica Maguire [PreSummit: Getting Into the Game: How Art, Dance, Music, and Theater Can Land Your Students an Unusual Job]
As Director of the Digital Media Council at Skillpoint Alliance in Austin, TX, Jessica Maguire, Ph.D. helps build strategic partnerships between industry, education, and community leaders to strengthen the digital media workforce in Central Texas. Dr. Maguire earned her doctorate in sociology with an emphasis on comparative social change from The Ohio State University. She is a proponent of game-based learning, and her passion is group facilitation for strategic visioning and planning. Her hobbies include journaling, mixed-media collage, and bellydance.

Celia Hughes [PreSummit: The Arts and Inclusive Learning]

Celia Hughes holds a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts, Speech Pathology from the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh. As the Executive Director of VSA Texas, she has developed diverse arts programs including All Kids Can, artist residencies in special education classrooms; ArtWorks: Creative industries, professional development opportunities for emerging artists with disabilities; and Actual Lives Austin, theater written and performed by people with disabilities. In 2009, VSA Texas opened Access Gallery in Austin to showcase the work of professional and emerging artists. In 2000, she wrote Stop the Violence, Break the Silence, an abuse prevention resource manual for professionals who serve people with disabilities (published by SafePlace, Austin); and in 2001, she produced “The Art of Audio Description,” a video training resource. Recently, Celia participated with the beta testing of an online graduate course to be offered by Lesley College in Cambridge, MA on Curriculum Design for Arts Teaching and Learning.

[PreSummit: Accessible Arts: Creating Inclusive Classrooms for Students with & without Disabilities]
Kalila B. Homann, MA, LPC-S, BC-DMT is an advanced level dance movement and expressive arts therapist and licensed professional counselor and supervisor. Her work integrates nonverbal communication and creativity in developing educational and therapeutic models for working with children and adults. Kalila teaches local and national continuing education programs for clinicians and teachers, and she co-founded the Accessible Arts program, which has served classrooms and communities in Austin for ten years. Ms. Homann has served as an adjunctive educator for Antioch and Goddard Colleges, and is currently teaching Neuroscience for Creative Arts Therapy at Drexel University.

Ann Zbylot, M.Ed. LPC, DMT-R: Ms. Zbylot has a Masters of Education in Counseling and Guidance from Texas State University and a BA in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Registered Dance/Movement Therapist with 11 years experience as a counselor/ psychotherapist for individuals and couples. She facilitates Dance/movement therapy groups for the Accessible Art in Schools program, a program for special education students of AISD ages Pre-K through High School. Ann also facilitates expressive arts trainings for professionals.

Tracey McCullick, MA, LPC: Ms. McCullick holds a Master’s Degree in Art Therapy and Creativity Development from Pratt Institute in New York and has worked with children and teachers in the Accessible Arts in Schools Program for 10 years. In her private psychotherapy practice, she specializes in mood disorders, PTSD, women’s issues, mind and bodywork, substance abuse issues and dual diagnosis.

Jonathan Schmid [PreSummit: Technology Boot Camp]
Jonathan Schmid is the Director of Innovation and Technology at The Meadowbrook School in Weston, Massachusetts. In addition to his seven years of experience in educational technology, Jonathan has worked for the past five summers as a technology instructor to international students at the Leysin American School in Switzerland. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Technology from Cedarville University, and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Jones International University with a M.Ed in Instructional Technology. Throughout his teaching career, Jonathan has lead numerous training sessions and conference presentations.

Gladys Keeton [PreSummit: Movement Activities to Support Optimal Brain Function in any Discipline]
Gladys M. Keeton, Professor of Dance, at Texas Woman’s University, joined the faculty in 1969 after teaching at Memphis State University and the University of Tennessee-Martin. Her degrees were earned at Northwestern State University in Louisiana. She is Director of the Dance Education Major program, has been Director of the TWU Modern Dance Company that toured in the states as well as in Brazil in 1977 and is also founder, artistic director, and performer with the TWU International Dance Company that performs throughout Texas and at National Conventions. Contributions to dance education are made through leadership in state, regional, and national organizations including President of the Dance Divisions of the Texas AHPERD and the Southern District AHPERD as well as being selected as a charter member of the Texas Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts Cadre and the Texas Education Agency Fine Arts Advisory Panel. She conducts Arts Integration workshops for teachers and students in Texas schools through the Artist-In-Education program, Texas Commission for the Arts and her recognition includes the TAHPERD and the Southern District AAHPERD Outstanding University Dance Educator and Honor Awards and the Texas Dance Educator’s Association Hall of Fame Award in addition to University and community Awards. Gladys is currently President of the National Dance Association.

Judy Jennings, PhD, RFL Director of Assessment and Curriculum [PreSummit: Turning STEM into STEAM]
Dr. Jennings specializes in interpretation of assessment data, analysis of student-level data, organization of curriculum development projects, and school accountability models. Her current projects include inter-rater reliability analysis and evaluator training for the New Mexico Three-Tiered Licensure program. In addition, she is co-manager of the Rider 42-E Fine Arts Integration Training and Support and the Texas Cultural Trust’s Art and Media Communications curriculum development projects. She serves as project manager for RFL’s work with Regional Education Service Center XIII on the Texas Performance Standards Project. Dr. Jennings also creates and presents professional development in assessment-related topics for the Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts (CEDFA) conference.

Before coming to RFL, Dr. Jennings was a manager in the Division of Performance-Based Monitoring for the Texas Education Agency. There she assisted in the publication of district-level performance monitoring reports, developed performance indicators, and analyzed and interpreted data. Prior to working at TEA, Dr. Jennings was project manager for Evaluation Software Publishing where she managed web-based access to accountability data for teachers and administrators in school districts. She has also been a researcher at the University of Texas Measurement and Evaluation Center where she assisted with data analysis using SAS and SPSS software.

Dr. Jennings earned a PhD in educational psychology in the area of psychometrics and statistics at the University of Texas at Austin in May 2006. Her expertise includes assessment strategies, statistical techniques, and standard setting.

Linda Wurzbach, MEd, RFL President [PreSummit: Fine Arts Inquiry and 21st Century Skills for G/T Students]

Ms. Wurzbach founded Resources for Learning in 1998 to carry out her vision of providing customized support to school reform efforts at the school, district, regional, and state levels.

Before opening her own business, she served as a Senior Project Associate for the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), in Washington, D.C. There she oversaw committees to develop licensing standards curricula and performance-based assessments for beginning teachers. At the Texas Education Agency, Ms. Wurzbach was a Planner III in the Division of Educator Assessment and Appraisal where she managed the assessment of over 40,000 entry-level educators annually. In that capacity, she coordinated policies with teacher preparation entities and facilitated the creation of Texas state standards, professional development for beginning teachers, and a personnel evaluation system.

Ms. Wurzbach has an MEd in Special Education from the University of Texas at Austin and has served as a special education teacher in Austin Independent School District and at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Amy Guadagnoli [PreSummit: Art & Media Communications: An Innovative Course Connecting Visual Art and Digital Literacy]
Amy Guadagnoli is the Director of Creative Services at Resources for Learning. As part of the CEDFA summit planning team, Ms. Guadagnoli has designed and produced logos, event programs, and marketing materials for the statewide summit, along with artwork and conceptual designs for summit content modules. She has also recently served as project manager for the Texas Education Agency’s Equity in Gifted/Talented Education Bilingual Toolkit and as designer/developer for ESC Region XIII’s Research Skills for G/T Teachers online game. Her work for the Texas Performance Standards Project received an Award of Excellence from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) in 2008. Additionally, designs for the Texas Education Agency’s Middle School Program for AP Spanish won Awards of Merit from NSPRA in 2007.
Prior to joining RFL, Ms. Guadagnoli served as a Visual Arts Instructor for an award-winning program through the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Printmaking Technician at Colorado College, and Artist-in-Residence at Park Hill Elementary School in Denver, Colorado. She is a practicing visual artist, specializing in color woodblock prints that have been exhibited throughout Texas and Colorado.
Ms. Guadagnoli received a BFA in Studio Art, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Denver in 1997. Additionally, she attained Webmaster Certification in System/Application Programming and Design/Media from Austin Community College in 2002. Most recently Ms. Guadagnoli completed the Principles of Marketing certificate program through the University of Texas at Austin’s Professional Development Center. Ms. Guadagnoli is a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Women Printmakers of Austin.