Ben Cornelius - Calculus AB
Ben Cornelius is currently a professor of mathematics at Oregon Institute of Technology. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He taught high school mathematics in Sao Paula, Brazil, and San Diego, California before coming to OIT in 1980. In 1991-1992 he also spent a sabbatical year teaching math at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore, and spent spring semester 2009 teaching at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois.
Ben has been a reader for nine years and a table leader for eight years with Advanced Placement Calculus. He has presented numerous Saturday workshops on AP Calculus in California, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Florida, Arizona, Alaska, Maine, and the Annual AP Conference, as well as weeklong Summer Institutes for Calculus AB and BC, at Southern Oregon University; Montana State-Billings; California State - Sacramento; Las Vegas, Nevada; Honolulu, Hawaii; Vancouver, Tacoma, and Bellevue, Washington; Cherry Creek, Colorado; and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. He has also completed a three-day presentation in Dakar, Senegal for math teachers at international schools in West Africa and two-day AB and BC workshops in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Bangkok, Thailand.
Marian DeWane – Chemistry
Marian DeWane was recognized in 2009 with the Presidential Award in Science Teaching by President Obama, the highest honor for a science teacher in the United States. She has also been a Teacher of the Year, a Presidential Scholar Teacher in 2001, 2004, and 2009, and recognized by the College Board as the Western Region Distinguished Teacher in 2008. She has also earned her National Board Certification in Chemistry. She has been a teacher for over thirty years at both high school and college levels. At the high school level, she has taught a variety of courses including AP Chemistry, AP Physics, and AP Environmental Science. Currently she serves as a leader in the reading of the AP Chemistry exam. Previously for the College Board, she served as the Advanced Placement Chemistry Content Advisor and has been editor and author for the AP Chemistry Special Focus series which included Equilibrium, Thermochemistry, Acids and Bases, and Bonding Theory.
Chris Freiler - European History
Chris Freiler teaches Advanced Placement European History and Philosophy and Ethics at Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale, Illinois. He has served since 1997 as a reader, Table Leader, Question Leader, and Assistant Chief Reader for the AP European History annual exam scoring. From 1998 to 2002, Chris served on the Test Development Committee and later as an independent consultant for AP European History, in the process acting as the primary author for three different document-based questions used on the national exam. Since 2006, Chris has served on the College Board Commission to redesign European History, recently being appointed co-chair of the Curriculum Development and Assessment Committee. He has authored an AP European test preparation book, published by McGraw-Hill, entitled AP Achiever: Advanced Placement exam Preparation Guide for European History.
Stephen Fuerderer – Physics B
Stephen Fuerderer earned his teaching degree from the University of Alberta (Edmonton) in 1985 and he has been teaching science and math since 1986 in the Burnaby School District in British Columbia. He has experience teaching college-level introductory physics courses as part of the International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement Programs. Stephen serves as an AP Physics Workshop Consultant and has provided training and support for teachers across Canada. He is an AP Physics Exam Reader and has written test items for the Educational Testing Services (ETS) in New Jersey for inclusion in AP Exams and SAT exams. Stephen has reviewed several textbooks at the junior and senior science level in British Columbia and has compiled a list of physics web sites that serves as a useful resource tool for students and teachers.
Ellen Greenblatt - English Literature and Composition
Ellen Greenblatt has taught English and literature for decades in schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York and for the School Year Abroad program in Spain. She has designed and taught several thematic electives (Utopia/Dystopia, Short Fiction, Innocence and Evil, Vietnam: Changing Perspectives, Schemes and Scandals, Hit the Road, Money and Love, among others) and electives on poetry, Shakespeare, and American and European literature. In addition to introducing a variety of techniques to encourage students to go beyond observation to interpretation, Ellen has recently begun using student-made films to enhance understanding and analysis, especially in the teaching of Shakespeare.
Ellen has been a member of the Advanced Placement English Test Development Committee, an AP reader and Table Leader, a member and Chair of the SAT Subject Test in Literature Test Development Committee, and is the author of the Guide for Teachers of AP English Literature (available at AP Central) as well as teachers guides, most recently contributing to the new Bedford St. Martins AP textbook guide. She offers teacher workshops in the United States as well as in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
Brian Kennelly – French Language and Culture
Brian Kennelly teaches French at California Polytechnic State University. Recent AP-related activities include: co-chairing the AP French Language and Culture Development Committee; representing AP French Language and Culture on a cross-disciplinary writing team for the AP Vertical Teams Guide for World Languages and Cultures; editing the Annotated Resource Guide; and serving as a Table Leader at the annual AP reading.
Website: http://calpoly.edu/~bkennell
Kent Korek - Psychology
Kent Korek currently teaches AP Psychology at Germantown, Wisconsin. Since coming to G-town in 1981, he has taught Psychology, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, Social Problems, US History and AP Psychology since its inception in 1992 in addition to chairing the Social Studies Department for twelve years. Prior to working at Germantown, Kent taught in West Allis for 2 years after graduating from Marquette University with a double major in history and psychology.
In 2003, Kent developed the companion web site and authored the classroom electronic presentations (PowerPoints) for the textbook, Thinking About Psychology. In 2008 he was invited to revise the web site and Powerpoints for the second edition of the text as well as creating questions for a Radio Frequency Classroom Response System (Clickers).
In 2009, along with four other psychology teachers from around the country, Kent helped establish the Teaching High School Psychology (THSP) Blog. Found at http://teachinghighschoolpsychology.blogspot.com/, the blog provides a wealth of information to psychology teachers at all levels.
Since 2005, Kent has been invited to be part of the AP Psychology Reading. In 2008, he was promoted to Table Leader. Kent has been endorsed as a College Board Consultant and has attended, facilitated and presented at many summer institutes including a number sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
Katherine Lu – Chinese Language and Culture
Katherine has been a full-time Mandarin Chinese teacher at Burnaby North Secondary School since 1988. She has also taught at the Vancouver Chinese Mandarin School (Saturday Program) from 1982 – 2004. She has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of British Columbia (1976) and completed the Professional Development Program at Simon Fraser University in 1977.
Recently she was a faculty member at the Continuing Education Summer Program (2010), Chinese Language Centre, National Cheng Kung University, and has been on the faculty of the following institutes: AP Summer Institute, Nanjing University 2007, AP Summer Institute, Beijing Normal University 2006, Chinese Language Summer Course (Advanced Level), Beijing Language Institute (1991 & 1993), Chinese Language Teachers’ Workshop Summer Program (sponsored by Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, Taiwan, ROC, 2000, 1990, 1989, 1983).
Peggy O'Neill Skinner - Biology
Peggy received her BA and MS degrees from the University of Washington. Focusing on molecular biology, she has continued her education with course work many years after earning her degrees.
Peggy taught AP Biology for forty years at The Bush School in Seattle, Washington. She has led numerous AP Biology workshops and institutes as a consultant in the United States and internationally. She has been an AP Biology exam reader, table leader, and question leader for over 30 years. Peggy has also served on the AP Biology Test Development Committee. She is the former chairs of The College Board's Science Academic Advisory Committee and The College Board's Academic Council and just retired as a member of The College Board's Board of Trustees and as a member of the AP Biology CDAC committee that worked on the revision of curriculum for AP Biology. She helped develop some of the new labs for the revision.
Peggy has received numerous recognitions as a teacher including the OBTA for Washington State, the Tandy Technology Teaching Award, and the first Siemens Award for Excellence in Advanced Placement Teaching, and has been a visiting scholar at The College Board in New York and was even honored with a 'Peggy O'Neill Skinner Honorary Day' in Seattle. She has published several articles about the process of inquiry and the teaching of science. Peggy enjoys reading and spending time with her family and her black lab, Touie.
Valerie Stevenson – English Language
Valerie received her BA in English from UCLA and her MA in Educational Leadership from Point Loma Nazarene University. She has taught English, including AP English Language and AP English Literature, for more than twenty-five years to all grades from 7th to college freshmen and sophomores. In addition to her work as a classroom teacher at Patrick Henry High School in San Diego, California, she has been a team leader, department chair, resource, and mentor teacher for the San Diego Unified School District.
Valerie has been the recipient of several National Endowment for the Humanties (NEH) grants. Her favorite was in 2000, when she studied the poetry of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickenson at Columbia University and saw NYC's July 4 Millenium fireworks. She is a National Board Certified Teacher in Adolescent/Young Adult English Language Arts. Valerie chairs the Education Committee and serves on the Board of Directors for the Preuss School, UCSD, a sixth through twelfth grade public charter school dedicated to preparing low-income, urban students to be the first in their families to go to college. The Preuss School, a national Blue Ribbon school, was named by US News and World Report as the second best school in California and sixteenth in the nation.
As an endorsed College Board consultant, Valerie is experienced as a reader for the AP English Language and Composition exam and a veteran workshop, AP Annual Conference and Summer Institute Presenter. In addition to her rich professional life, Valerie enjoys three book clubs, a hiking group, gardening, cooking, travel, and her family.
Barbara Sunday – Studio Art
Barbara Sunday began her teaching career in Jamaica, West Indies, and has taught AP Studio Art at Sentinel Secondary School in West Vancouver, Canada, for 22 years. Barb is also an experienced elementary teacher, has served as a District Art Coordinator, and has lectured in Art Education at both The University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. Barb has served in a variety of positions and presented workshops for the British Columbia Art Teachers Association, and the National Art Educators Association.
Barb has been an AP Studio Art Reader for 8 years and has served as a Table Leader at the Reading for 3 years. She has given numerous AP and Pre-AP workshops across Canada, in the Western US Region, and internationally. She has presented weeklong institutes in Detroit, San Diego, Bellevue, Hawaii, Chicago, Las Vegas, Victoria, and Toronto. Barb has been the recipient of the NAEA Pacific Region Award, Art Educator of the Year Award, and the BCATA Art Teacher of The Year Award. Barb has presented several short and full-day sessions for the Annual Advanced Placement Conference and has recently served 3 years on their Steering Committee.
Sue Weaver - Micro & Macro-Economics
Sue Weaver is a teacher at Ramona High School in Ramona, California. She is a member of the Palomar College Faculty in San Marcos, California. She has been a grader for the AP Economics Exam since 1997, having graded both Micro and Macro exams. She has received the Foundation for Teaching Economics National Teacher of the Year Award and been honoured by the California Council of Economic Education as the California State Economics Teacher of the Year.
Sue is a consultant for the College Board, conducting both Saturday, one-day workshops and week-long institutes at various colleges in California. She is the co-founder of CASET (The California Association of Economics Teachers) and does sessions at its State Conferences and Federal Reserve workshops.