Meet Our Teacher Leaders

Karen Amidon is a 2020-2021 Teach Plus Colorado Senior Policy Fellow. She teaches high school English at Peak to Peak K-12 Charter School and advises the Student Council and coaches the Ethics Bowl team. Karen has served as English department chair and grade level leader, and she is a certified educational leadership coach who regularly mentors preservice teachers. She has been awarded several classroom innovation grants and received teaching fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Hemera Foundation. Prior to teaching, she led a nonprofit advocacy organization championing girls’ and women’s education, economic security, and civil rights. Karen graduated from Wake Forest University with a BA in English and received her MA in English and secondary education licensure from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Sara Jean Banks is a 2020-2021 Colorado Senior Policy Fellow and works as a Dean of Instruction at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Early College (DMLK) in Denver. She previously served as a high school science teacher at both DMLK and AUL Denver, where she served as a Senior Team Lead coaching, collaborating, and evaluating her team of teachers and sat on her school's instructional leadership team. Sara Jean has been awarded Teacher of the Year in her district and has been nominated for Teacher Leader of the Year. She serves as a guest lecturer at the University of Colorado, teaching an environmental science course and also serves on the AUL Denver’s Board of Directors. 

She earned her MA in Curriculum & Instruction through the Denver Teacher Residency after earning a BA in Environmental Science from the University of Colorado.

Gene Fashaw is a 2020-2021 Colorado Policy Fellow. He is the 6th grade math teacher and grade level lead at Strive Prep - Montbello. He began his teaching career three years ago as part of the Teach for America Colorado Launch Fellowship program. Gene completed the Strive Prep Leadership Academy in the 18-19 school year. He coaches both the co-ed flag football and boys’ basketball teams. He works in his community as treasurer of ShopTalk Live and director of the newly founded Honorable Protector Initiative. He earned his BA in Business Administration from Morehouse College. He earned his MA in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education in 2019 and is currently working toward his MS in Biotechnology and Bioentrepreneurship from the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Suzannah Mikol is a 2020-2021 Colorado Policy Fellow. She teaches 4th grade dual language at Riverview School in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where she is also a member of her school’s Building Leadership Team. Previously, she taught bilingual 3rd grade at Cole Arts and Science Academy in Denver. Suzannah participated in the Colorado Association of Bilingual Educators 2020 conference and subsequently led her school’s staff in professional development and advocacy around bilingualism and biliteracy. She is also the Association Representative to her school for the Roaring Fork’s chapter of the Colorado Education Association. She holds a BA in Hispanic Studies from Colorado College and an MA from Adams State University in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education.