Salem Launches Teachers Cabinet

The Salem School Committee and Mayor Kim Driscoll, who chairs the committee, have launched a Salem Teachers Cabinet to advise city officials and the committee on key issues facing Salem Public Schools. The Massachusetts-based teacher leadership non-profit Teach Plus selected 10 outstanding teachers to participate in this six-month teacher leadership opportunity.

Members of the Salem Teachers Cabinet will meet monthly at City Hall with Mayor Driscoll, members of the School Committee, and a facilitator from Teach Plus. During the meetings they receive teacher leadership training, discuss timely issues facing Salem Public Schools, and work in small groups to author policy proposals on three key issues selected by the teachers. Those issues include teacher retention, teacher leadership, and schools’ use of time. Cabinet members will present their recommendations to the School Committee on June 15.

The City launched the Cabinet during an important time for Salem Public Schools. The district recently hired a new superintendent.

Below are the members of the Salem Teachers Cabinet:

Tina Cardone. Math Teacher, Salem High School

This is Tina Cardone’s fifth year teaching at Salem High and she loves working with her amazing colleagues in such a diverse setting. She completed her undergraduate degree at Mount Holyoke College and completed her student teaching at the nearby Holyoke High School. Her master’s degree is from Boston University and she has continued taking graduate courses and attending conferences to remember what it feels like to be a student and to keep abreast of the latest research and methodologies.

Jason Colombino, STEM Coordinator, Salem Public Schools

Jason Colombino is the STEM Coordinator at Salem Public Schools working on supporting teachers and leaders to make sustainable changes to math and science education. During his time as an Algebra I teacher at Salem High School, Colombino took part in the Master Teacher Project at BetterLesson documenting and sharing a year’s worth of lessons and reflections with teachers around the country. Prior to working in Salem, Colombino worked at a private special education therapeutic day school for students with High-Functioning Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities. Colombino is currently working on his Ph.D. at Boston College and earned a M.Ed. in Mind, Brain and Education from Harvard and an A.B. in Mathematics and Psychology from Bowdoin College.

Valerie Drinan, District Math Coach K-8

Valerie Drinan received a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from UMass Amherst and a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from Salem State University. She is currently finishing the necessary requirements for the Project SAEL Program at Salem State University to obtain her ESL License. Drinan has held positions as a 5th grade teacher and 6th grade Math and Science teacher during her six years working for the Salem Public Schools.

Lynn Embick-Morris, 4th grade teacher, Nathaniel Bowditch School

Lynn Embick-Morris is currently a 4th grade instructor at the Nathaniel Bowditch School in Salem. This is her 4th year at the school and in that time she has served as an active member of the Parent Teacher Organization, served on the Expanded Learning Time Committee and the Data Leadership Committee, and has been a Lab Classroom Teacher. Embick-Morris led the work for the Language section of the latest School Improvement Plan, and has participated in the Principal Search Committee and sat on several other staff hiring committees. In addition, Embick-Morris has served as a delegate to an American Federation of Teachers state meeting, and has been a part of the Salem Teachers Union Bargaining Committee and is currently serving as a union Building Representative.

Eric J. Farley, Coordinator of the Academic Center, Salem High School

Eric Farley has been employed for 15 years in the City of Salem. His first nine years, he taught English and history at the Collins Middle School in the Diversion/Mainstream Program. The last six years, Farley has worked at Salem High School as In-House School Coordinator, and now as Coordinator of the Academic Center. The Academic Center assists students who have missed school, are failing one academic subject, have anxiety issues, and/or need extra support to be successful in school.

Victoria (Viki) Hernandez-Bailey, District Humanities Coordinator K-8 Salem Public Schools

Victoria Hernandez-Bailey has 19 years of educational experience working in Peabody, Lawrence, and the Salem Public Schools. She taught in the classroom for 12 years and has been a curriculum instructional coach for the past six years. This year, she is enjoying her new position as the District Humanities Coordinator.

Lauren Hobin, 6th Grade English Language Arts, Collins Middle School

Lauren Hobin obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in English and Elementary Education from Salem State University and then moved on to graduate with a Master’s in Education from American International College. While attending college, Hobin worked as a Title I ELA tutor at Collins Middle School and also worked in healthcare as an Access Representative in a local Emergency Room. Once Hobin completed her degree, she was fortunate enough to be hired as a 6th grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher at Collins Middle School.

Rebecca Lewis, 5th Grade Humanities, Bentley Elementary

After graduating from college at Emerson College in 2009, Rebecca Lewis completed Teach for America in the Mississippi Delta. Since then, she has lived in Salem while teaching middle school ELA in Boston and Lawrence, MA. She is excited to be teaching at the Bentley Elementary School, and serving as the Bentley 3-5 Building Representative for the Salem Teachers Union.

Sean McLaughlin, Social Studies at Salem High School

Sean McLaughlin has taught in Salem for 12 years. Prior to that, he taught in private schools in New Hampshire. McLaughlin is a graduate of Harvard University is currently completing his Doctorate in Educational Leadership with a focus on turnaround schools.

Michael Titus, 7th Grade ELA Teacher at Collins Middle School

After earning his undergraduate degree in Communication with a minor in Japanese Language and Literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he worked for a year as a special education paraprofessional at Hadley Elementary in Hadley, MA. He then completed a one year, residency-based intensive Master’s program from University of Massachusetts. He worked at Springfield Central High School for two years teaching World History and U.S. until he moved back to Salem in 2012, where he has been teaching at Collins Middle School as an ELA and Social Studies teacher.