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Meet Our Teacher Advisors

Our teacher advisors come from all over the country and share a passion for science education. We’re thrilled to have them on board!

Denise Alfaro · Sylvania Heights Elementary School · Miami, FL
3rd Grade Math/Science Teacher

Denise Alfaro has been a teacher for 13 years. She currently teaches third grade math and science at Sylvania Heights Elementary School. She loves animals and has an extensive collection of reptiles and mammals in her classroom. A proponent of STEAM, her initiatives helped her elementary school to become a designated STEAM school. In addition to teaching, Denise works with her district’s elementary science focus group, updating pacing guides and essential labs. She enjoys using SuperScience with her students as a way to stay current in the world of science. Denise has been married for 25 years and has four amazing sons, ranging from age 15 to 24.

Nancy Bourne · Grove Park Elementary School · Palm Beach Gardens, FL
STEM Coach

Nancy Bourne has been a School District of Palm Beach County employee and Scholastic magazine subscriber for more than 20 years. She earned her M.A.Ed. from the University of Florida and her undergraduate degree from Florida Atlantic University. Nancy previously worked in STEM within the Department of Teaching and Learning, supporting teachers and students in grades K-12. Today Nancy is a STEM Coach at Grove Park Elementary School. She is also a United Way mentor who provides hands-on STEM lessons to disadvantaged students. She is the recipient of Florida Engineering Society’s (FES) K-12 Teacher of the Year and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Caitlin Dignan · P.S. 152: The Dyckman Valley Magnet School of Innovation in a Global Community · New York, NY
Special Education Teacher

Caitlin Dignan is in her fifth year of teaching at P.S. 152: The Dyckman Valley School of Innovation in a Global Community. After being accepted into the NYC Teaching Fellows program, she began teaching first grade special education. She has since taught second, third, and fourth grades as well. Her interests include anything related to outer space  (especially constellations), reading historical fiction, and baking gluten-free cookies.

Debra Ericksen · Adamsville Primary School · Bridgewater, NJ
Fourth Grade Teacher  

Debbie has been a teacher for 10 years. She has an M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University and has taught general education, gifted and talented, and English language learners. She has also co-taught within a special ed classroom. Her passion for science was ignited when she was awarded a scholarship to attend the ExxonMobil Teachers Academy. Since then, Debbie has served as a science coordinator for her school, designed a STEAM Family Night, written science curriculum, and facilitated professional development workshops at the district, state, and national levels. She serves on the New Jersey NGSS Teacher Leader Cohort and the NSTA PreK/Elementary Curriculum Committee, and is a peer reviewer for NSTA’s Science and Children magazine. Debbie continues to pursue an interdisciplinary model of instruction to support science within her classroom. She has received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching and the NSTA Sylvia Shugrue Award.

Michelle Gay · Foley Elementary School · Foley, AL
Gifted Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher

Michelle has been an educator for more than 20 years and is national board certified in middle childhood education. She has had a passion for science since high school and has participated in a number of science teacher training programs across the country, including the Sally Ride Academy and the Exxon Mobil Academy. In addition, she is an Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) teacher and presenter for fourth grade and has served on her school's AMSTI professional learning community for three years. She has been a SuperScience advisor for many years.

Courtney Greene · Hayden Meadows Elementary School · Hayden, ID
4th Grade Teacher

Courtney Greene is a fourth grade teacher at Hayden Meadows Elementary School. She is currently working on her master’s in STEM education through Boise State University. In addition to teaching, she serves on the Idaho Science Teachers Association board and promotes elementary school science through inquiry-based workshops and training sessions. Her passion is creating integrated units of instruction centered around place-based science.

Beverly Grueber · North Bend Central Public School · North Bend, NE
4th Grade Teacher

Beverly Grueber started her 46th year of teaching this fall. This past summer, she helped to write Nebraska Math assessment questions; attended the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Portland, Maine; and participated in a STEM conference in Philadelphia.

Amy Kamata · Stone Oak Elementary School · San Antonio, TX
5th Grade Science Teacher

Amy Kamata grew up on a cattle farm in Iowa. After graduating with a B.A. in community recreation, she lived in Japan and Mexico, teaching conversational English and volunteering. In 1998, she returned to the United States, landing in Texas. Since then, she has worked at a retirement community and government travel office, had two kids, and returned to school to earn a master of arts in teaching. She started her sixth year as a fifth grade science teacher this fall. During the summer months, she works at a summer camp for 6-8 year olds at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. Her interests include volunteering for environmental causes, reading, working out, traveling; attending concerts, the theater, and art exhibits; and learning new things.

Vanessa Lehnerz · Classical Academy, Vista Charter School · Oceanside, CA
3rd-5th Grade Science Teacher

Vanessa Lehnerz is a third, fourth, and fifth grade science teacher at the Classical Academy, Vista Charter School. She recently graduated from the University of San Diego with a master’s in education and is a Johnson Education Fellow. Her interests include researching the field of agriculture and gardening with her two beautiful daughters.

Jill McCabe · McBride Elementary School · Muscle Shoals, AL
5th Grade Science/Social Studies Teacher

Jill McCabe has taught for 21 years in early childhood, elementary, and special education classrooms across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. Currently, she is teaching in the same classroom she was learning in as a fifth grade student a few decades ago! She loves integrating technology, cooperative groups, and project-based learning to facilitate meaningful experiences for her students. Teaching and learning are her passions, but she also enjoys reading, photography, messy science experiments, and traveling with her family.

Randi McManus · Andrew Jackson Language Academy · Chicago, IL
4th Grade Math/Science Teacher

Randi McManus has been an elementary education teacher for 11 years. She is currently a fourth grade math and science teacher at the Andrew Jackson Language Academy. Before becoming a teacher, she worked as a radiation therapist for 22 years. Her medical background in math and science has helped her to bring a different perspective to her class.

Lisa Phelps · Shelburne Community School · Shelburne, VT
6th-8th Grade Science Teacher
Winton Team

Lisa Phelps has been an educator since 1983. Her teaching experience spans middle school to college-level courses. She has taught middle grade science and math at the Shelburne Community School, assisted with a microbiology course at the University of Vermont, and taught an Elementary Science Methods class at Champlain College. The Vermont Academy of Science and Engineers honored her as Vermont’s Outstanding Science Teacher of the Year in 2003.

Alyson VanAlphen · Socrates Academy Public Charter School · Matthews, NC
5th Grade Science Teacher

Alyson VanAlphen has worked in education since she graduated from college in 1995. She taught in a public school for five years before leaving the classroom to start a private tutoring business. After a year as a substitute teacher in 2009, she began teaching fifth grade science at the Socrates Academy and has been teaching there ever since. Science education is her passion, and she is grateful to have the privilege of being on the SuperScience Advisory Board!

Kimberly West · Sun Valley Elementary School · Sparks, NV
6th Grade Science Teacher

Kimberly West has taught in Florida and Nevada for 19 years. Over the past five years, she has been lucky enough to specialize in her favorite subject—science! She and her students like giving feedback and new ideas to the SuperScience team. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, pinning things on Pinterest, and spending time with her family and their two cats.

Sara Rabas · Kewaunee Middle School · Kewaunee, WI
Middle School Teacher

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