Meet the Rewire Presenters

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Don Wettrick is the Innovation Coordinator at Noblesville High School, and is the author of "Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% Time to the Next Level." Wettrick has worked as a middle school and high school teacher; educational and innovation consultant; CEO, and podcast host. He is also the founder of StartEdUp, an organization dedicated to help transform the school culture toward innovation and enable student-led entrepreneurship. 

Don has lectured across the US, Europe, South America and Africa about collaboration, social media use, and work environments that enable innovation. Through his travel, he has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley to Ghana, and seeks to bring that entrepreneurial mindset into our classrooms. His podcast, StartEdUp, has featured some of the most successful entrepreneurs, authors, and thought leaders in the world- focusing on educational change. Most importantly Don works with educators, students, and entrepreneurs to bring innovation and collaborative skills into education.

JT McCormick shouldn't have succeeded. He was born the mixed-race son of a drug-dealing pimp father and an orphaned, single mother on welfare. He was raised in the slums of Dayton, Ohio, suffered incredible abuse and racism, and had multiple stints in the juvenile justice system. He barely graduated high school and has no college degree.

But succeed he did.

Starting by scrubbing toilets, JT hustled and worked his way into better opportunities, eventually finding incredible success in the finance and mortgage industry. He was on top of the world.

And then the mortgage industry fell apart. He lost his job, and literally all of his money. He had to borrow from his friends to make rent. He was nearly back to where he started: with nothing.

But this time, he had something that he did not have growing up in the slums of Dayton: the knowledge of what it takes to succeed. JT used this setback combined with what he learned as the springboard for him to reach even bigger heights--eventually becoming President of two multimillion-dollar companies.

Currently, JT is the President and CEO of Book In A Box. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Megan, and their three children; Ava, Jaxon, and Elle.

James E. Ford is an award-winning educator and consultant on issues of equity in education. He is the former Program Director at the Public School Forum of North Carolina, an education think-tank and policy advocacy organization. Prior to this, he served as the 2014-15 North Carolina Teacher of the Year and the representative for 95,000 public school teachers throughout the state. For a full year, he traveled the state and country speaking before thousands of teachers, students, business leaders and policymakers about the importance of education.

While in this position, he lobbied the state legislature to help secure the first post-recession raises for teachers and was made chair of the Governor's Teacher Advisory Committee. The Governor acknowledged Ford during his 2015 State of the State address for his hard work and recognition. In Spring 2015, He, along with 54 other state teachers were invited to the White House to be honored by President Obama in the Rose Garden during Teacher Appreciation Week. 

Ford taught World History at Garinger High School in Charlotte, NC starting in 2010. Ford earned a bachelor of science in mass communication from Illinois State University in 2003 and a master’s degree in teaching from Rockford University in 2009. He received his Add-On Certificate from Wingate University in 2014 and holds an NC Principals License. He is currently pursuing his PhD at UNC-Charlotte in Urban Education.

Suzy Brooks is an Instructional Technology Director for Mashpee Public Schools after 10 years as an elementary teacher. She provides professional development and hands-on workshops for educators at local, regional and national venues. Her work in blended learning, student engagement, and social media has been featured by EdWeek, NBC News’ Education Nation, Instructor Magazine, Intel, ASCD, and the NEA. Currently, Suzy is the President-Elect for the Massachusetts affiliate of ASCD and is a 2011 MassCUE Pathfinder. You can follow her on Twitter @SimplySuzy.

Kayla Delzer is a globally awarded 3rd grade teacher and technology champion in North Dakota. In fact, The New York Times named her "one of the tech-savviest teachers in the United States".

She has ten years of teaching experience in second and third grade. Kayla holds her master's degree in Elementary Education from the University of North Dakota. In September 2018, she will be receiving the University of North Dakota Sioux Award, the highest honor of achievement offered by her University.

Governor Doug Burgum has recognized Kayla for her contributions to education in North Dakota, and assigned her a chair on North Dakota's Innovative Education Task Force.

She has been recognized as both an "ISTE Influencer" and "HarperCollins Publishing Influencer". Additionally, in March 2018, she was named 1 of just 30 "All-Star Digital Innovators" in the United States by PBS.

Kayla frequently travels around the United States and other countries as a featured and keynote speaker. She has delivered well over 100 keynotes, one of note being at Twitter Headquarters. On July 23, 2015 she delivered her first TEDx Talk, Reimagining Classrooms: Students as Leaders and Teachers as Learners.

Her work with classroom redesign and flexible seating has become the standard worldwide, and she was recently selected as a recipient of the Global Hundred Award, designating her as one of the top 100 innovative educators in the world. She is currently writing a book about classroom learning spaces and flexible seating, titled FlexED: Flexible Seating for Flexible Learners, set to release during the summer of 2018. She is also a co-author of the best-selling book Education Write Now, published in December 2017.

Anna E. Baldwin is an English and history teacher at Arlee High School in Arlee, Montana, located on the Flathead Indian Reservation. She is also the course developer and teacher of Native American Studies for the Montana Digital Academy, the state’s online high school. For four years Baldwin was an adjunct assistant professor teaching pre-service English teachers at the University of Montana — Missoula. Baldwin has distinguished herself through her teacher leadership, academic contributions to the profession, and her focus on the equity of her students. She is the author of a number of education-related articles and multi-media publications. Baldwin’s classroom has been the subject of several teaching videos, including an hour-long documentary produced by the Center for American Indian Policy and Applied Research. Her dissertation researched professional development providers who support teachers integrating Montana’s signature multicultural education initiative, Indian Education for All. She speaks frequently at education events and summits while using the internet as a platform to share her voice. At Arlee High School Baldwin has served as an instructional coach, college prep program instructor, freshman academy guide, and National Honor Society adviser. She is the founder and co-adviser of the Reservation Ambassadors club, which strives to break down stereotypes about reservation life by building relationships with students at off-reservation schools. She has also taught at Two Eagle River School, the tribal alternative school on the reservation where she lives.

 Asael has been in education for 24 years. Prior to becoming an administrator, Asael was a classroom teacher for 12 years. He is the proud Principal of Rio Hondo Middle School in Rio Hondo, Texas. While Principal at Resaca Middle School in Los Fresnos Consolidated School District, his students were one of eight selected for the Verizon Innovative App Award. Asael and his students presented their app to then President Barack Obama.  

Bobby Dodd is the high school principal at Gahanna Lincoln High School in Ohio.  He earned four degrees before determining what he wanted to do with his life...dedicate it to helping people.  

Dodd’s passion for helping others lead him to create new opportunities for students and staff such as digital academies, college summer camps, fabrication laboratories, Early College High School, and personalized learning environments.

As an educator, Dodd actively communicates, collaborates and connects with stakeholders to help his school and the education field.  He has received awards for his contributions as a connected educator, including the 2016 NASSP Digital Principal of the Year award.  Dodd continues to assist others in the education field by presenting at the local, state and national levels.

Dodd is a co-moderator of #ohedchat, co-founder of EdCampLeader Columbus, and hosts a blog about educational leadership and effective instructional methods.  Dodd resides in Blacklick, outside of Columbus, with his wife, three daughters and schnauzer “Buzz.”

 Paul is a middle school Capstone teacher in a Makerspace. His class encourages kids to wonder and become radically curious and make things that they thought were previously impossible. As lead designer, it is Paul’s  job to not just plan and teach, but to learn and explore alongside his students. Prior to becoming a Capstone teacher, Paul was an Adjunct Professor at St. Joseph’s University, and a middle school social studies teacher. Paul has presented for the Library of Congress, Educon, New England League of Middle Schools Annual Conference, Northeast Regional Conference for the Social Studies, Connecticut Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, and a host of EdCamps on the east coast. 

Peter DeWitt (Ed.D) is a former K-5 teacher (11 years) and principal (8 years). He runs workshops and provides keynotes nationally and internationally focusing on collaborative leadership and fostering inclusive school climates. His work has been adopted at the state level, university level, and he works with numerous school districts and school boards on collaborative leadership around North America and the U.K, and DeWitt works as a school leadership coach in North America. 

Additionally, Peter is a Visible Learning Trainer working with John Hattie. He has written with John as well as presented with him around North America. Peter worked with Jim Knight as an Instructional Coach before his Collaborative Leadership work took off. 

He is the Series Editor for the Connected Educator Series (Corwin Press) and the Impact Series (Corwin Press) that include books by Viviane Robinson, Pasi Sahlberg, Yong Zhao and Michael Fullan. 

His Finding Common Ground blog (Education Week) has been in circulation since 2011. He is the 2013 School Administrators Association of New York State's (SAANYS) Outstanding Educator of the Year, and the 2015 Education Blogger of the Year (Academy of Education Arts & Sciences). 

 Ann Rose Santoro, a teacher leader from Port Chester, NY, was an elementary classroom teacher for 25 years before becoming an Instructional Coach.  Currently she is an Instructional Support Specialist for Technology K-12.  Additionally, she is a Consulting Teacher for the Center for Responsive Schools.  She trains teachers nationally in the Responsive Classroom Approach to teaching and learning. Ann Rose combines Responsive Classroom practices with 21st Century skills while working with students throughout her school district. She is a Google and BrainPoP Certified Educator.  Ann Rose is an America Achieves New York State Teacher Voice Fellow and has been a member of the Bill and Melinda Gates Teacher Advisory Council.  Ann Rose has planned both regional and national ECET2 convenings and is a co-moderator on the weekly #ECET2 Twitter Chat. 

 Aaron Sams has been an educator since 2000. He operates Sams Learning Designs, is an Instructor at Saint Vincent College, and is an advisor to TED-Ed. In 2009 he was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. Aaron has co-authored seven books on the Flipped Classroom concept. Aaron is an internationally recognized keynote speaker and has trained thousands of educators to integrate technology with sound pedagogy. He is a lifelong learner, reader, and maker. He holds both a B.S. in Biochemistry, an M.A.Ed. from Biola University, and is pursuing a Ph.D. at Texas Tech.