Niki Gamble

Congratulations to our 2025 Academy Scholarship & Affiliate Grant Awardees! We are honored to support these exceptional educators on their professional learning journeys. Their dedication to advancing learning for all is both admirable and inspiring.

Mindy Blackman

Patsy Hochman Memorial Academy Scholarship

Frisco Independent School District * Frisco, TX

Mindy is excited about the opportunity to join the Learning Forward Academy to deepen her expertise in designing and implementing high-impact professional learning. With over a decade of experience as a Professional Learning Coordinator and eight years as a campus administrator, she has led large-scale professional learning initiatives, developed mentoring programs, and supported instructional coaching. However, she recognizes that continuous growth is essential to ensuring sustainable and effective learning systems.

Sarah Hedge

Sybil Yastrow Memorial Academy Scholarship

Minneapolis Public Schools * Minneapolis, MN

Sarah believes the Learning Forward Academy experience will offer a unique opportunity to deepen her understanding of how best to provide timely professional learning to support special education teachers. She hopes to develop the necessary tools and strategies that she can then use to improve teacher practices and student performance(s) in her district. She hopes to identify key leverage points in the school system that in turn will help her design a professional learning model aligned with district goals and evaluation system. Her ultimate objective is to develop a national model for job-embedded special education teacher preparation. She is also a parent of a child with special needs.

Stephany Moore

Learning Forward Foundation Academy Scholarship

Rio Rancho Public Schools * Bernalillo, NM

Stephany would like to deepen her knowledge of improving practice and problem-solving skills with strategic decision-making skills. She looks forward to exploring a problem of practice in Rio Rancho Public Schools. Stephany is eager to work through the process and develop a strategic plan. After the Academy experience, she hopes to apply her new skills to other needs in the district and be a part of solution-based practice in leadership.

Emily Munn

Stephanie Hirsh Academy Scholarship

Metro Nashville Public Schools * Nashville, TN

Emily is interested in participating in the Learning Forward Academy because it aligns with her goal of improving educator confidence, practice, and student engagement to promote success across our district. This program will equip her with research-based strategies to address challenges and support high-quality, rigorous instruction in the district’s early postsecondary programs, including IB, Cambridge, AP, and AVID. As Director of Advanced Academics, she aims to enhance teachers’ capacity to deliver effective, rigorous instruction, and the Academy offers valuable tools to further this mission. Emily is eager to join a vibrant, collaborative learning community where she can exchange ideas with educators facing similar challenges and goals. Engaging with colleagues virtually and in person will provide insights she can bring back to her district, enhancing her overall professional learning approach.

Jamar Tyler

Sybil Yastrow Memorial Academy Scholarship

Portsmouth Public Schools * Chesapeake, VA

Jamar is interested in attending the Learning Forward Academy because it offers a unique opportunity to deepen his understanding of professional learning and its direct impact on student achievement. As he nears the completion of his dissertation on implementing professional learning frameworks, he is eager to learn from experts and peers who share a commitment to educational excellence. Jamar wants to gain practical insights and strategies to support teachers and staff’s continuous growth, fostering a culture of collaboration, reflection, and improvement. Additionally, he looks forward to expanding his leadership skills to better guide my school community in embracing evidence-based practices for long-term success.

Learning Forward Mississippi

Dale Hair Affiliate Development Grant

Bradley Brumfield * Executive Director

Learning Forward Mississippi will use the Dale Hair Affiliate Grant to train board members in facilitating the Pathway to Educational Excellence and Equity: Simulation Game, an interactive learning tool aligned with Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning. This initiative will build board capacity, support district accreditation efforts, and enhance professional learning statewide. The project includes board training, district pilot sessions, and a Fall Conference rollout, ensuring sustainability and long-term impact across Mississippi’s education system.

2025 Scholarship & Grant Recipients

Read about Constance’s journey in social-emotional learning through her participation in the Learning Forward Academy program.

Download a copy here

Deborah Chapman
Learning Forward Michigan Academy Scholarship
Fenton Area Public Schools * Fenton, MI

Deborah’s involvement in the academy experience will help to develop and implement a plan that will provide evaluation of the implementation of MTSS in her district using a continuous improvement cycle. Having a passion to support all learners, it is important that professional learning in regard to MTSS isn’t a checkbox that a district is looking to achieve, but a system of learning that is created to support all learners in an evolving society. Additionally, it is important that all staff have the knowledge and confidence to meet every student where they are. By participating in the academy, she hopes to gain the knowledge and tools to create and implement this professional learning plan in ways that will engage all staff and translate to learning by all students. With the support of her administration and participation in the Academy, she will be able to support the development and implementation of a strong system of professional learning revolving around the MTSS process, which will build capacity the staff and support all students’ academic, behavior, and SEL needs.

Sarah Elwell
Sybil Yastrow Memorial Academy Scholarship
American Federation of Teachers * Silver Spring, MD

Sarah’s project will focus on identifying equitable engagement content, processes and conditions for success in professional learning, assess whether equitable engagement practices in professional learning may lead to greater use of equitable practices among educators and their students, and evaluate the link between levels of engagement and broader mobilization. The Intended outcomes are to provide strategic design guidance, outline markers to examine to create equity-based professional learning and create pathways to resolve potential conflict when implementing these practices, increase in equitable practices within the classroom and school community, which will hopefully lead to more success across various demographics and a more positive, courageous and representative, and leverage professional learning as a touchpoint for greater advocacy.

Megan Hewitt
Stephanie Hirsh Academy Scholarship
Gwinnett County Public Schools * Sugar Hill, GA

Megan’s project will focus on professional learning they provide to truly be focused on meeting the needs of each and every learner. She believes Learning Forward will provide tools needed to ensure they are continuing to move towards building an equitable system. One strong step for GCPS was selecting a high-quality instructional material rooted in the Science of Reading to ensure that each and every child has access to build knowledge with worthy, compelling, complex texts. She wants the professional learning that they provide to truly serve each of the groups they have an opportunity to interact with: administrators, coaches, and teachers. Shifting their professional learning to be more facilitative will strengthen how they equip leaders, coaches, and teachers to truly be leaders of their own learning.

Amanda Johns
Patsy Hochman Memorial Academy Scholarship
Blue Ridge Independent School District * Blue Ridge, TX

Amanda’s project will focus on using professional learning communities to talk about real time data, dive into upcoming units and lessons, and talk about specific instructional strategies for intervening with students in the subject of mathematics. The model will focus on identifying teachers’ strengths in instruction, professional learning communities where we are all learning together as well as from each other, and the end of the day’s big celebration will be student growth through unit assessments and STAAR data. Her work will focus on the following goals:
-By the end of the 2025-2026 school year, each grade level at Blue Ridge Elementary will meet at least one time per month to discuss real time math data and plan for future small group instruction at least 90% of the time.
-By the end of the 2025-2026 school year, Blue Ridge Elementary will grow from 0 to a 3 in STAAR results for math achievement and growth in grades 3,4, and 5.

Ana Lara
Stephanie Hirsh Academy Scholarship
Miami-Dade County Public Schools * Miami Gardens, FL

Ana aims to establish a robust system of professional learning that yields specific and measurable outcomes. First, she intends to enhance professional growth by implementing targeted training programs, increasing employee expertise in technology integration and AI. This, in turn, should translate into improved student and employee growth, fostering a dynamic and engaging learning environment. Additionally, the focus on equity will result in tailored initiatives, addressing the diverse needs of educators and promoting an inclusive education system that ensures equitable opportunities for all students future. The data and evidence informing these goals include assessments of current professional development needs, analysis of educational trends, and recognition of the transformative potential of technology in teaching. By aligning outcomes with these insights, she’ll ensure their efforts address specific gaps, leading to improved teacher effectiveness, enhanced student learning experiences, and a more equitable educational system in response to the identified challenges and opportunities.

Jessica Leedy
Sybil Yastrow Memorial Academy Scholarship
Prince George’s County Public Schools * Columbia, MD

Jessica’s goal is to extend their Computer Science Education Week from a virtual code night to include an in-person event at an elementary school. After submitting a proposal, the computer science department supported her initiative financially and with materials. This type of support exists from all the departments she works with, including her own, science department. These departments understand the need for additional opportunities within their large district to promote equity of opportunities and resources. The district, which includes over 200 schools, has pockets of wealth and poverty. Our office of Equity, Diversity, and Belonging works hard to highlight these disparities and asks departments to reflect on their practices to combat these. The science department works to provide a variety of curriculum and professional development support to promote equity, which is at the forefront of curriculum and instruction. We are a diverse district and recognize that what is best for one is not best for all. Her problem of practice will focus on meeting the needs of a population which has grown 195% in ten years in their district of multilingual learners.

Peggy Stewart
Dale Hair Affiliate Development Grant
Learning Forward New Jersey

Learning Forward New Jersey aims to address the reorganization of the board, to meet two new organizational challenges. The first challenge is the influx of new engaged and skilled members who are less familiar with Learning Forward’s vision and mission, as well as the work of an affiliate. The second is the opportunity for new learning of the entire board related to standards and equity. This strategy grants us an opportunity to strengthen our organizational structure, enhance governance, and revitalize partnerships. By focusing on these areas, we can operate more efficiently, align with our mission, and forge stronger partnerships to advance our goals.