ORC enhances teaching and learning by promoting standards-based best practices
in mathematics, science, English language arts, and social studies for Ohio schools and universities. ORC
serves as a trusted source of easily accessible, peer-reviewed, high-quality,
and effective resources.
Dr. Nicole Luthy began her career in education as an elementary teacher in the Columbus City Public Schools, where she also participated in developing curriculum and professional learning experiences. Before joining ORC, she was a reading and language arts consultant at the Ohio Department of Education with responsibility for state and federal literacy initiatives and grants. Nicole served as the Reading/Language Arts Content Specialist for ORC from 2001 to 2006 and as Assistant Director of ORC until becoming Director in 2010. She received a bachelor's degree in English literature from Emory University and a master's degree and doctoral degree from The Ohio State University.
, Early Childhood Specialist and FAMS Program Coordinator
After many years of teaching and working with elementary and preschool children, educators, and families in southern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, and West Virginia, Nancy moved back home to Columbus to broaden the scope of her service. As an education specialist at the Ohio Resource Center, she works on many different projects.
Nancy's priority areas include both formative assessment and early childhood education. She leads the Formative Assessment in Middle School (FAMS) project and oversees the Resources for Early Childhood (REC) website. Nancy coordinates professional development experiences, online resources, and technical support related to formative assessment for participating schools (teachers, administrators, and other staff).
, Program Director
After graduating from The Ohio State University in 1999, Connie began her career at the university as a web developer for Eisenhower National Clearinghouse. She continued to build her repertoire when she started working for the Ohio Resource Center as web developer and product manager. Throughout the years her role has grown to include not only web development, but also graphic design and project management.
, Science Content Specialist
After earning a B.A. from Capital University and an M.A. in teaching biology from Miami University, Tracy taught middle and high school science classes for five years near Columbus. She then taught courses for preservice science teachers at Ohio Wesleyan University and Capital University. She served as an instructional coach for rural, urban, and suburban schools to support teachers during the implementation of local and statewide grants. Before joining ORC, Tracy worked on Ohio's New Learning Standards and the Model Curriculum as a science consultant at the Ohio Department of Education. She has served as district director, president, and web designer for the Science Education Council of Ohio and as a board member of the Environmental Education Council of Ohio.
Her areas of expertise include implementing project-based learning, using environmental education as a basis for integrated lessons, and incorporating Citizen Science experiences into classroom instruction. She is currently creating and facilitating professional development workshops on science pedagogy, content, and technology integration.
, English Language Arts Specialist
After eight years teaching elementary school in Texas, Anita Gonzalez earned a master's degree in reading specialization while teaching kindergarten. In 2005, she became an adjunct instructor in literacy content areas and a campus reading specialist while continuing her teaching in the elementary school classroom. She is currently a reading and literacy doctoral student at The Ohio State University, researching spelling instruction for her dissertation.
Anita's expertise is wide ranged, with practice in beginning reading instruction, vocabulary development for students, children's literature, preservice teacher education, and literacy coaching for classroom teachers. Her research has included early spelling instruction, effective vocabulary instruction, and the reading process.
Anita's work at ORC focuses on standards-based literacy instruction. Recent presentations have explored ways to incorporate literacy in after-school programs, use graphic novels in the classroom, and integrate the ORC resource collections for elementary literacy into classroom instruction. With a passion for learning and for being a resource for others, Anita continues to help teachers connect with high-quality resources to improve classroom instruction.
, Digital Learning Specialist
Ed began his career as a middle school music and technology educator and served eleven years with the Columbus City Schools. He has served as a digital content specialist, educational technology consultant, learning resource developer, and digital tools specialist, and he has been a participant on multiple committees and development teams.
As the Digital Learning Specialist at ORC, Ed works to identify digital resources, strategies, and tools that advance the work of the organization and his fellow content specialists. He is also responsible for the design and development of instructional modules for online and mobile learning. He has provided leadership with collaborations that include participation on Ohio's Digital Learning Day Advisory Team and Ohio's Blended and Online Learning Team as well as being the principal digital technology consultant for the newly developed Capitol Square Educational Classroom at the Ohio Statehouse. He has presented at conferences, special events, and webinars on various topics ranging from online and mobile learning to technology integration and design thinking in education.
His areas of expertise include technology integration, professional development, digital instructional design, mobile and online/blended learning, design thinking, social media, problem-based and game-based learning, and learning digital.
, Director of Information Technology
Richard Huggins has worked in the Information Technology field for over 13 years at The Ohio State University. He began working for University Computing Services monitoring computer labs and building databases for scheduling and key management. Richard then moved on the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse, first providing desktop support as a student, then as Network Administrator and full-time staff member. While working for ENC, he began developing websites using ASP, ColdFusion and Tcl/Tk, as well as implementing Microsoft Exchange, and Active Directory. Richard has continued this work at the Ohio Resource Center, managing a team of web developers building sites on the Microsoft .Net Framework.
, Mathematics Specialist
Jaime earned a B.A. in mathematics and a B.S. in chemistry from Wilmington College and an M.S. in mathematics from the University of Cincinnati. She has taught mathematics and chemistry at the high school level in Blanchester Local Schools and mathematics courses at the University of Cincinnati and OSU. In addition, Jaime has supervised OSU M.Ed. students. She is currently working on a Ph.D. in mathematics at OSU.
, Social Studies Specialist
Dan earned both a B.A. in comprehensive social studies education, grades 712, and an M.Ed. in curriculum and supervision from Miami University, where he later taught middle childhood education methods courses. Dan has more than 20 years of classroom experience in middle school and high school settings, and he has served as a technology integration specialist and curriculum leader, in which roles he was responsible for instructional coaching, mentoring, professional development, and standards-based curriculum alignment.
Dan has been a leader in several social studies professional organizations and a consultant for the National Geographic Society and the Ohio Geographic Alliance. His leadership roles for the Ohio Council for the Social Studies include newsletter editor, web editor, legislative liaison, president, and executive director, and he has served in leadership roles for the National Council for the Social Studies. Dan has also been a member of the content advisory committees for the Ohio Department of Education's 2002 and 2012 standards revisions and the item review committee for the Ohio Graduation Test.
Among his areas of expertise are the C3 Social Studies Framework, inquiry in the classroom, historical thinking, Ohio's New Learning Standards, and Common Core connections.
, Director of STEM Initiatives
Dr. Teresa (Terry) Shiverdecker earned her Ed.D. from the University of Cincinnati. Terry taught high school science; was an adjunct instructor at the University of Cincinnati, Wright State Universityâ€“Lake Campus, and Ohio Wesleyan University; and served as the director of secondary curriculum and instruction for the Shelby County Educational Service Center.
Terry was ORC's Science Content Specialist from 2002 to 2013. As the Director of STEM Initiatives, Terry works on developing and sustaining partnerships and pursuing state and national funding to support activities related to STEM education and teacher professional development. Current ORC projects include Materials Science as Content Integrator in the Physical Science Classroom and Connecting Climate Science and Inquiry. Current and past collaborators include Action for Children, Battelle for Kids, Byrd Polar Research Center, Capital University, College of Education and Human Ecology at OSU, Columbus City Schools, Department of Materials Science and Engineering at OSU, Engineering Education Innovation Center at OSU, Knowledge Works, Springfield City Schools, Teaching and Learning Collaborative (T&LC), Worthington City Schools, WOSU, and others. Her publications include articles for ORC's features 3GRG Policy into Practice, In Perspective, ORC-On, and Science Instructional Strategies: A Look at the OGT and the NSTA Press book Inquiring Scientists, Inquiring Readers: Using Nonfiction to Promote Science Literacy, Grades 3â€“5. She has presented at state and national conferences and participated in numerous webinars.
Terry's areas of expertise include the learning cycle, inquiry-based instruction, the integration of literacy into inquiry-based instruction, and the planning and delivery professional development.
, Administrative Assistant