About | Mentoring Virginia

The NOVA Network and SWVA Consortium Partnership

Mentoring Virginia Curriculum & Design Team

Audra Parker, PhD

Professor and Academic Program Coordinator, Elementary Education
George Mason University

Audra Parker, PhD, is a professor and Academic Program Coordinator in Elementary Education in the School of Education at George Mason University (VA) In addition to teaching courses in elementary methods and management, she partners as a university facilitator at Garfield Elementary, a PDS site. Her research centers on innovations in clinical teacher preparation in elementary education and elementary organizational structures. She has published her research in The New Educator, Action in Teacher Education, and School-University Partnerships, and she serves as a leader in the field of clinical teacher preparation through active engagement in NAPDS (National Association for Professional Development Schools), ATE (Association in Teacher Education), and AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education).

Nancy Bradley, PhD

Nancy Bradley, PhD, is professor of practice in elementary education at Virginia Tech and Co-PI on the Southwest Virginia Clinical Faculty Grant. She is currently the president of the Association of Teacher Educators in Virginia, a member of the Virginia Department of Education Advisory Board for Teacher Education and Licensure, and a member of her local school board. Her scholarship focuses on literacy and teacher recruitment, preparation, induction, and retention.

Assistant Professor of Practice, Elementary Education

Virginia Tech University

Kristien Zenkov, PhD

Kristien Zenkov, PhD, is a Professor of Education and coordinates the Secondary Education (SEED) program at George Mason University. He is the author and editor of eight books—including the forthcoming Fires in Our Lives: Advice for Teachers from Today’s High School Students, with Kathleen Cushman and Meagan Call-Cummings—and more than one hundred fifty articles and book chapters, focusing on teacher education, literacy pedagogy and curricula, social justice education, and school-university partnerships. Dr. Zenkov is a long-time boundary-spanning educator and school-university partnership facilitator. He collaborates as a co-teacher at TC Williams High School (of “Remember the Titans” fame!) in Alexandria, Virginia and regularly conducts project-based clinical experiences with youths and preservice and in-service teachers in schools throughout Northern Virginia. He co-directs “Through Students' Eyes,” an action research and photovoice project through which young people document with photographs and writings what they believe about citizenship, justice, school, and literacy.

Professor and Academic Program Coordinator, Secondary Education (SEED)
George Mason University

Email: kzenkov@gmu.edu
Website: kristienzenkov.com

Donna Fortune, PhD

Donna Fortune, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Practice and the Program Leader for Elementary Education in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. Her courses include literacy , social studies, curriculum development, and culturally responsive teaching with a focus on teacher language. Her teaching philosophy for preparing preservice educators includes the importance of creating active learning environments that are inclusive for all learners and promoting the concept that learners are co-constructors in their educational journey.

Assistant Professor of Practice,
Program Leader, Elementary Education
Virginia Tech University

Michelle Lague, PhD

Michelle Lague, PhD, is an instructional designer at The George Washington University and adjunct professor at George Mason University. She is a former high school English teacher with Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia.

Instructional Designer
George Mason University

Andrew Porter, PhD

Andrew Porter, PhD, is a graduate research assistant and lecturer at George Mason University. A former secondary social studies teacher, his research interests include Educational Psychology and Teacher Education. Andrew has served as a mentor teacher as well as a University Supervisor for GMU’s Secondary Education (SEED) program.

VDOE Grant Project Manager
Graduate Research Assistant
George Mason University

Email: aporter7@gmu.edu

Meet the Contributors

The Mentoring Virginia ‘Essentials’ asynchronous training and ‘Advanced’ synchronous trainings were created through ongoing collaboration among the university faculty and school-based teacher educators in the Northern Virginia (Region 4) and Southwest Virginia (Regions 6 and 7) Superintendent’s Regions in the state of Virginia.

The school-based teacher educators-- exemplary mentors of teacher candidates, on the job teachers, and new teachers--contributed their expertise, energy, and enthusiasm to guide the content, format, and activities of Mentoring Virginia.

"Be flexible and give yourself grace. You can't be everything to everyone."

Dawn Evans

5th Grade Teacher