CARSON CITY, Nev. – Today, the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) celebrates the appointments of eight staff members to national boards and commissions.

In their roles, each NDE staff member will have the opportunity to affect change on a national level, including revamping of national standards and involvement with nationwide leaders in education.

“With the appointments of several NDE staff members to national boards and commissions, we celebrate Nevada’s leadership in education on a national level,” said State SuperintendentJhone Ebert. “Each of these exceptional individuals will contribute to meaningful changes in education policy and have the ability to work at the forefront of education in the United States. I am so proud of each of our team members who have earned this recognition and who continue to give generously of their time and talents to Nevada’s students and educators as well as our national colleagues.”

Nationalappointments of NDE Staff Members include: 

• NationalComputer Science Teachers Association: Cindi Chang, M.Ed., Education Programs Professional for Computer Science, was elected to the Board of Directors.
• NationalCouncil of Supervisors of Mathematics: Dr. Heather Crawford-Ferre, Education Programs Professional for Mathematics, was appointed to the Board of Directors.
• Councilof State Science Supervisors: André DeLeón, Education Programs Professional for K-12 Science andInstructional Materials, was elected to the Board of Directors.
• AdvanceCareer and Technical Education Equity Kitchen: Randi Hunewill, Assistant Director of Career and Technical Education (CTE), was appointed to the Advance CTE Equity Kitchen.
• Societyof Health and Physical Educators America: Andrew Snyder, Education Programs Professional forPhysical Education was selected to serve on the taskforce to revise NationalHealth Education Standards. 
• Resultsfor America (RFA) Education Fellows Program and Education Advisory Board: Dr. Seng-DaoYang Keo, Gabrielle (Gabby) Lamarre, and Sarah Nick were selected to serve as RFA StateEducation Fellows.  

CindiChang, National Computer Science Teachers Association

EducationPrograms Professional for Computer Science Cindi Chang was elected to the Boardof Directors for the National Computer Science TeachersAssociation (CSTA).Chang will also serve as the CSTA State Department Representative for the 2021­­­­­­–2023term.

Chang has served at NDE for more than four years, and previously worked as a computer science educator in Clark County School District for 12 years. At NDE, her role is to ensure that every student in Nevada has equitable access to quality computer science classroom instruction that is led by a confident and properly trained educator. Chang also supports NDE with Statewide initiatives, including the NevadaDigital Learning Collaborative, and collaborates with stakeholders Statewide to ensure they have the resources they need to be successful in their respective education positions. 

In these leadership roles, Chang is a voting member of the Board, will evaluate the ExecutiveDirector on an annual basis, will participate and support implementation of the annual national CTSA conference, and is a member of the Teacher StandardsWriting Committee, Nominations and Elections Committee, and upcoming AuditCommittee. She will also participate in the implementation and guidance of various national programs aimed to expand computer science education.

As the state Department representative on the Board, Chang has organized a national membership of other state department computer science supervisors in collaboration with national organizations Code.org and Expanding Computing EducationPathways. This group currently has all 31 state computer science supervisors in their membership and meets quarterly to discuss and collaborate on nationwide computer science policy and initiatives.

At the State level, Chang is also a member of the Governor’s TelecommunicationsAdvisory Council (TAC) where she advises the Governor on technology and telecommunications matters. Chang’s appointment to this role was recently renewed for the 2021–2023 term.

Dr.Heather Crawford-Ferre, National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics

EducationPrograms Professional for Mathematics Dr. Heather Crawford-Ferre has been appointed to the Board of Directors for the NationalCouncil of Supervisors of Mathematics(NCSM) for the 2021–2023 term. Dr. Crawford-Ferre will serve in the position of Affiliate Coordinator, and her term will begin in September 2021 at the annual NCSM Conference.

Dr.Crawford-Ferre has served in her role at NDE for five and a half years, leadinginitiatives in K-12 mathematics and educational technology, including NevadaReady 21. Prior to her role at NDE, she served as the Assistant Director of the Nevada Mathematics and Technology Program and as Teacher Preparation Adjunct Faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Crawford-Ferre is also an author and editor with two published books examining Out-of-School-Time STEM Programs for Females.

NCSM is a mathematics education leadership organization that equips and empowers a diverse education community to engage in leadership that supports, sustains, and inspires high-quality mathematics teaching and learning for each and every learner. Dr. Crawford-Ferre is the past president of the Nevada Mathematics Education Leadership Council and a board member of Women and Mathematics Education, both of which are affiliates of NCSM. This experience uniquely qualifies her to support NCSM affiliates across the nation in her new role.

André DeLeón, Council of State Science Supervisors

André DeLeón, Education Programs Professional for K-12 Science and InstructionalMaterials, was elected to the Board of Directors for the Councilof State Science Supervisors(CS3). DeLeón has worked at NDE for ten years, and previously served for more than 20 years as a science and social studies teacher for Nevada middle and high school students. His three-year term started on April 7, 2021, and he will serve until April 2024.

The mission of CS3 is to sustain and nurture a dynamic learning community that empowers its members to be effective and articulate advocates for quality science education at the local, state, and national levels. Board Members are elected by CSSS State Membership. The Board of Directors manages the organizational business and is the governing body of the organization.

DeLeón was elected to the position of Archivist and serves as the custodian of the corporate records pertaining to CS3. He will also serve on CS3’s FinanceCommittee. This committee prepares an annual budget for approval by the Board and serves in an advisory capacity to the Board on financial matters.

RandiHunewill, Advance Career and Technical Education Equity Kitchen

AssistantDirector of Career and Technical Education (CTE) Randi Hunewill was appointed to the AdvanceCTE Equity Kitchen to serve a one-year term beginning on October 6, 2020. Hunewill has served NDE for 13 years in the Office of Career Readiness, Adult Learning & EducationOptions. In her role at NDE, Hunewill oversees the Health Science and PublicSafety programs of study, supports new teacher training and professional development, supervises grants, and coordinates distance education for CTE.

Prior toNDE, Hunewill served as a Nevada educator for more than 28 years, teaching middle school mathematics and science in Washoe County School District, and teaching high school agriculture and science in Lyon County School District.

As part of the Advance CTE Equity Kitchen, Hunewill discusses challenges and success related to equity, helps develop resources for all states, and supports comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA) to facilitate a data-informed, continuous improvement process for schools.

AndrewSnyder, Society of Health and Physical Educators America

EducationPrograms Professional for Physical Education and Health Andrew Snyder was selected by Society of Health and Physical Educators America (SHAPE) to serve on the taskforce for a two-year term to revise the National Health Education Standards.

Snyder has served as an Education Programs Professional at NDE for almost three years, and previously worked in the Washoe County School District for five years as an English Language Learning and Health and Physical Education teacher. He serves in the Office of Standards and Instructional Support to oversee Health, Physical Education, and STEM. In this role, Snyder provides leadership and consultative services, facilitates academic content standards development, provides professional development opportunities, and assists in developing, executing, and reporting NDE policies relating to Health, Physical Education, and STEM.

SHAPEAmerica aimed to assemble a team of diverse leaders who possess deep content knowledge of health education, and Snyder was selected from a large pool of candidates for this role. Snyder’s appointment began in September 2021, and their vision of National Health Education Standards is anticipated to take place over the next two years. The National Physical Education Standards are also being revised, and there will be opportunities for collaboration between both task forces to ensure alignment between both sets of standards.

Dr. Seng-DaoYang Keo, Gabby Lamarre, and Sarah Nick, Results for America

Dr. Seng-DaoYang Keo, Gabby Lamarre, and Sarah Nick, who serve in the Office of Student and School Supports, were selected to serve as State Education Fellows for Resultsfor America (RFA).

The RFAFellowship brings together senior program and evaluation leaders from State education agencies (SEAs) into a single network that is focused on accelerating the generation and use of evidence. NDE’s four participating members will serve from May 2021 until June 2022 and will focus on helping SEAs and their school districts respond to the overlapping crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic collapse, and pervasive racial inequities.

In additionto her role as a State Education Fellow, Dr.Seng-DaoYang Keoalso serves on the Results for America (RFA) Education Advisory Board. Dr. Keohas worked at NDE for five years and previously served as a mathematics teacher and teacher leader for middle and high school students. She has also held roles as a student leadership teacher for the Director of the Office of the President and Director of the Foundation for a higher education institution and has served as a National Education Policy Advisor. At NDE, Dr. Keo leads the Office of Student and School Supports, which provides guidance, resources, and support to local education agencies and other educational organizations to build their capacity so that all students in Nevada have access to excellent and equitable schools.

Gabby Lamarre, J.D. serves as Title IPrograms Director and Federal Liaison for NDE. She oversees programs that support our most marginalized students, including youth experiencing homelessness and those in foster care. Lamarre also works on targeted interventions for the State’s lowest-performing schools. Prior to her four-and-a-half years at NDE, Lamarre began her career as an elementary school teacher and has worked in education law, policy, and advocacy in various settings.

SarahNick has served at NDEfor almost four years in multiple roles. In her current role as EducationPrograms Professional for the 21^st Century CommunityLearning Centersprogram, Nick supports grants which advance academic enrichment programs statewide. Previously, Nick supported the State Superintendent of Public Instruction with strategic planning and legislative affairs. She has previously served as an elementary school teacher in Florida where she was recognized as a district teacher of the year and has also worked as a district administrator and in education technology start-ups.

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