Let’s Go Learn’s Education Advisory Board

Richard Sterling

Adjunct Professor, Education in Language, Literacy, and Culture; Graduate School of Education, U.C. Berkeley. Candidate Phil., New York University; English Education Dr. Sterling is the Executive Director of the National Writing Project. Formerly, he served as a faculty member at Lehman College, where he was founder and director of the Institute for Literacy Studies, a research unit of CUNY. He also founded and directed the New York City Writing Project and the New York City Mathematics Project. In 1992, he received a grant from the DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund to develop a national project of teacher research groups in twelve cities across the U.S. As National Director of this Urban Sites Network, he worked with teachers and faculty from all regions of the country to develop a body of practitioner-based research documenting educational practices. Dr. Sterling is currently extending the work of the Urban Sites project to both rural and urban settings and developing ways to close the gap between university researchers in education and practitioners in the field. His publications include "The Urban Sites Writing Network: ‘Hard Talk’ among Urban Educators," in Social Action (1994), and "CHARTing Educational Reform" (with P. G. LeMahieu), published by CHART in 1992.

Jimmie Howell

Assistant Principal, Paulding Middle School, Arroyo Grande, CA Mr. Howell is an educational administrator with an extensive management background and twenty-six years of experience in program development, curriculum, instruction, and personnel evaluation. Educational expertise includes elementary, intermediate, and high school levels.

Sharon Zinke

Reading Specialist, Hayward School District Ms. Zinke has been an elementary school teacher for thirty-three years and spent half of those years as a reading specialist. Early on, she recognized that the group method of teaching reading and language arts was failing. In response, she has dedicated her career to teaching reading and to helping other teachers become more effective in their instruction. Additionally, Ms. Zinke has explored the political side of reading. Her passion for reading has been known to fuel many letters to congressmen and trips to Sacramento.

Paul Giganti, Jr.

Mathematics Professional Development Specialist & Author, Albany, CA Giganti teach is a math teacher educator at the University of California, Berkeley, and California State University, Hayward. A graduate of UC Berkeley, he taught in public schools for over 15 years prior to his work in professional development. He has directed federally-funded professional development math programs under the auspices of the California Post-Secondary Education Commission. He was also coordinator of the California Mathematics Council Festival Programs and Professional Development. In addition to his classroom teaching and professional development career, Paul Giganti has published several children’s picture books about mathematics.

Pat Gemma

Superintendent, Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District Mr. Gemma oversees the entire Tahoe-Truckee school district and is responsible for its smooth operation. Because of his genuine concern with improving his schools, he is prepared to implement new technologies when and where appropriate. Mr. Gemma recognizes the considerable challenges we face, both as teachers and students, and is embarking on efforts to train his teachers as reading specialists.