Over the past several months, PeachStar has been pleased to welcome several new staff members to our team and we would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to each of them and let you know what each has to offer you as a Georgia educator!
Michelle Elliot - Education Project Manager
Michelle comes to us from the DeKalb County schools, where she was a fourth grade teacher, and serves in the role of Elementary Education Project Manager. In addition to bringing PeachStar her experience as a classroom teacher, Michelle also offers the knowledge gained through her Master's Degree in school counseling. In her new role at PeachStar, Michelle is responsible for evaluating Pre K-5 program service needs, recommending program priorities, identifying programs to acquire or produce to meet those priorities, managing original programming, and creating professional development. Additionally, she will use her knowledge in school counseling to serve the areas of guidance counseling and character education for grades Pre K-12.
Elliott McElroy - Research and Advancement Team Leader
Elliott came to PeachStar from the University System of Georgia, where he served as both a faculty member and administrator for a number of years. At PeachStar, Elliott is responsible for facilitating the research, development, and implementation of a comprehensive plan to enhance and extend the utilization of PeachStar's programming and services. He works with other PeachStar staffers to develop the PeachStar Annual Survey, which allows us to use feedback from the teachers and media specialists we serve to optimize our services, and maintains our database of email addresses to allow us a quick and efficient way to share important news with educators across the state.
Laura Miller - Ready To Learn Consultant
Laura has a background in English and Education and has experience working in various educational settings within the K-12 arena. At WGBH in Boston, Laura served as a member of the team that piloted Ready To Learn (RTL), public broadcasting's answer to the call for all children to begin school ready to learn. She continues her work with Ready To Learn here at PeachStar, where she shares the RTL message with parents and caregivers across the state of Georgia through workshops designed to teach TV literacy and the ways in which educational television can be used to supplement reading activities.
Barbara O'Brien - Fine Arts Education Project Manager
Barbara has served in the fine arts education community as a teacher, choreographer, dance educator, arts administrator, arts education consultant, and artist-in-residence. Her experience in Atlanta includes work with the Fulton County Arts Council, the High Museum, and Young Audiences of Atlanta. At PeachStar, Barbara will bring focus to Georgia's fine arts curriculum, integrate arts into PeachStar's programming efforts, and provide support services for Georgia teachers in the area of fine arts.
Jeff White - High School Project Manager
Jeff has a background in chemistry and education and has served as a high school science teacher in both the public and private school setting. Additionally, he administered professional development to Georgia Teachers through the UGA Technology Training Center. At PeachStar, Jeff serves as high school project manager with a focus on science and math. He is currently overseeing PeachStar Classroom, a PeachStar initiative that brings credit-bearing chemistry and physics classes to Georgia high school students. Jeff also participates in teacher trainings designed to familiarize educators across the state with PeachStar's programming and services.
Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to work with these outstanding new additions to the PeachStar team as well as those team members you have come to know over the last several years. You can find contact information for each member of the PeachStar staff on the inside back cover of every issue of Pipeline.
