Director and Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania

Zachary Herrmann is passionate about education with special interests in collaborative teaching and learning, developing 21st century skills, classroom innovation, and education leadership. Zachary earned a B.S. in Mathematics at the University of Illinois, an M.A. in Education from Stanford University, a Ed.M in Education Leadership and Administration from the University of Illinois, and a Doctor of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D) from Harvard University. Zachary is currently a Director and Lecturer at Penn GSE.

Teacher, Niles North High School

Before becoming a mathematics teacher, Gary was a biology and chemistry major at Loyola University Chicago. He received his B.A. and M.S. in Mathematics, Secondary Education from Northeastern Illinois University, and MEd in Curriculum & Instruction with a focus on Educational Technology Leadership from Concordia University. Gary is teacher at Niles North High School, and is passionate about collaborative learning, racial equity in our schools, and grading reform. Outside of the math education community, Gary enjoys traveling, food culture, photography, lettering, and most of all, he loves spending time with his wife and dogs.

Teacher, Evanston Township High School

Lara has a B.A. in sociology with a minor in business from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as a M.A. in mathematics education from DePaul University. She is always willing to take risks and try new things in the classroom. Lara helps her students develop a growth mindset and emphasizes the importance of making mistakes. When she is not busy teaching at Evanston Township High School she loves to bake and play with her puppy, Maverick.

Teacher, Oliver McCracken Middle School

Fil has a B.S. in Mathematics from Elmhurst College, and a M.A. in Mathematics Education from DePaul University. He has taught middle school probability, statistics, and STEM classes for the past three years. In the past, he taught secondary Algebra and Geometry. Fil is passionate about helping students develop a growth mindset and positive dispositions towards mathematics in order to support their growth as collaborative learners. Outside of school. Fil enjoys golfing, cooking, analyzing the Cubs, discussing mathematics education with his wife, and spending time with his two children.

K-5 Mathematics Coordinator, Waukegan Public Schools

Matthew currently serve as the math coordinator for grades K-5 at WPS60. He began teaching high school math in Waukegan. He received his undergraduate degree in Architecture at IIT, and his Master's degrees in education at Trinity International University and in Educational Leadership at The American College of Education, and is currently pursuing his doctorate. Matt also teacher Developmental Math at the CLC. He practiced architecture for 20 years, put groupwork to use in supervising construction trades worth over $120 million, started six businesses, and holds international patents. He is married with two adult trilingual children (German, Spanish, and English). One fun fact is that Matt broke his collarbone over being excited about pudding!

Teacher, Mundelein High School

Jeff has a BS in Mathematics from Illinois State University and a Master of Arts in Teaching. He is a leader in educational reform with an expertise in alternative grading practices. Jeff has been a part of the Complex Instruction Consortium since 2009, attending the inaugural workshop. Outside of the classroom, he is an avid reader (reading over 100 books a year), is currently writing a book on alternative grading practices, and is active in community theatre.

Teacher, Highland Park High School

Sachin J. Jhunjhunwala is a teacher at Highland Park High School. Over the last few years, Sachin has implemented a variety of new approaches each year such as flipped classrooms, complex instruction tasks, standards-based grading, and week-long problem-based learning structures in his courses. Prior to teaching, Sachin was a Director of Technology and Product Manager at Expedia, Inc. and Expedia Europe for 8 years where he led teams that implemented website, backend, call center and voice-response systems for Europe and the US.

Teacher, Stevenson High School

Tina Nocella is a teacher at Stevenson High School, and ICTM’s Most Promising New Teacher - 2015. She received her undergraduate degree in Secondary Mathematics Education from Illinois State University and her Master's degree in Secondary Mathematics Education from Northeastern Illinois University. Tina has been involved in the CIC since she began teaching in 2011 and has been on the leadership committee since 2013. One fun fact about Tina is that her favorite number is pi and she currently has over 80 digits of pi memorized. Her goal is to memorize 314 digits of pi in her lifetime.

Mathematics Articulation Specialist, Stevenson High School

Sue Ellen earned her undergraduate degree in Secondary Mathematics Education from the University of Illinois and her Master's degree in Mathematics from Northeastern Illinois University. She first heard about CIC in 2015 and has been attending the workshops and using complex tasks in her classroom ever since. She is passionate about the work of the CIC and is excited to be able to share the positive impacts that it has on students. Sue Ellen recently left her role as a classroom teacher in order to work as a liaison and instructional coach at Adlai E. Stevenson High School and its consortium/feeder schools to help build equitable classroom experiences. When not at school, she can be found in the stands as the "biggest fan" supporting her three sons at all their sporting events.

Director of STEM, Evanston District 65

David Wartowski holds a Bachelor of Arts in Honors Economics from the University of Michigan, a Masters in Education from the University of Notre Dame, and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Concordia University. David has been a part of CIC since its inception, always excited about the critical thinking and relevance that is brings alive for students -- and teachers. David is at his heart a very curious person, always wondering how things work and how they could work even better. When not doing things related to school, David spends his time raising three amazing children. David began teaching in South Central Los Angeles in the year 2000 after a brief career as a management consultant.

Teacher, East Leyden High School

Stephanie has a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics Education and Dance Education from Illinois State University. She is passionate about teaching students how to be resourceful and take risks in any level of mathematics. Stephanie has worked with the Complex Instruction Consortium since 2010, and joined the leadership team in 2015. During the summer of 2010 and 2015, Stephanie participated in Illinois State University's Research Experience for Undergraduates program. Based on the collaborative research conducted in the field of combinatorics, Stephanie has been published six times in mathematical journals focusing on graph theory. Outside of the classroom, Stephanie coaches the Leyden District Orchesis and enjoys food, photography and travel.