President

​Dr. Jennifer Sinal Swingler currently serves Fairfield Public Schools as  the Program Director of Secondary Literacy and Learning. Her twenty years in education have provided her opportunities prek-12 including working as a middle school and high school teacher, a building leader, and a central office administrator. In addition, Jenn is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Bridgeport in the Educational Leadership program where she works with sixth year and doctoral students. 

Past President

Cathy Sosnowski has worked in public education for thirty-six years. She has been a teacher, department coordinator, department chair, assistant principal, assistant principal of teaching and learning and a director of curriculum, instruction, assessment for secondary English and Social Studies. She is an active member in the New England Association of Teachers of English where she has presented multiple times. Cathy has spent the last six years working with teachers to create trauma-informed classrooms and teacher self-care. Currently, Cathy works as an adjunct professor at CCSU in the M.A.T. program working with pre-service ELA teachers.

Vice President

Dina Secchiaroli is a Professional Learning Specialist with over 23 years of experience as an educator, facilitating learning for both adults and students. She specializes in literacy, curriculum design, blended learning, project-based learning, PLCs, data teams, and instructional coaching at ACES Professional Development and School Improvement (PDSI). Dina is a reader for the Foundational Skills for Evaluators and is a certified Cognitive Coach™. Dina has co-written a chapter on scientific argumentation in Toward Inclusion of all Learners through Science Teacher Education and has five curriculum units published through Yale New Haven Teachers Institute.

Past Vice President

Kris Nystrom is Director of English at Regional School District 19. He has worked in public education for over thirty years and child psychiatric education for five. Kris is a former English Methods instructor for the CT State Department of Higher Education Alternative Route to Certification (ARC) and has taught courses in humanities, art history, English composition, and education philosophy at Goodwin College, Southern Connecticut State University, and Central Connecticut State University. He completed his BA in English at Salisbury University; MALS in humanities at Wesleyan University; and Ed.D. at Central Connecticut University, where his research focused on adolescent literacy. 

Treasurer

Lynda Reitman has worked in public education since 1996, after a 20-year career in the corporate world of banking. Since then, she has taught middle school and high school English, served as department liaison, been an assistant principal, a high school principal and spent one very interesting year as a district superintendent. She retired in 2017 and works currently as an adjunct instructor of English at Manchester Community College and at Asnuntuck Community College in the Second Chance Pell Grant program.

Equity & Inclusion Officer

Aiyah Moustafa teaches language arts at King Philip Middle School in West Hartford. As an Equity and Diversity Council member, Aiyah is passionate about planning and implementing anti-racism lessons that focus on SEL and Social Justice Education. She is involved with parent partnership groups, professional development, community outreach, and curriculum design. In addition, she is committed to fostering and encouraging all students’ love of reading by advising the Kids’ Lit Quiz club, coordinating nErDcamp 2019 and 2020, and collaborating with other teachers to coordinate author visits within the district. She has a Bachelor of English and Master of Education from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Mentoring Co-Chair

Nicole Martone has taught English for 22 years and served as a high school English department head, a grades 6-12 ELA instructional leader, and an administrator for academic programs. She has a PhD specializing in Educational Leadership from Lesley University, a 6th-Year Diploma in Educational Leadership and an MAT in English Education from Quinnipiac University, and a BS in English Education from SCSU. She has experience at middle school, high school, and college levels. She has also been recognized by NCTE as an Emerging Leaders Fellow and by Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education as a Master Teacher. Her interests include supporting the growth and development of teachers and students, by fostering effective teaching and learning practices and by promoting efforts that support and sustain positive school and student-learning climates, respectively.

Mentoring Co-Chair

Carolyn Mostel Weiser has taught English for 17 years and served as both a high school English teacher and  instructional coach for culturally relevant pedagogy at Simsbury High School. She holds a 6th-Year Diploma in Educational Leadership from Central Connecticut State University, an MA in English Literature from Hunter College, and a BA in English and the Program in the Arts from Barnard College. She also serves as co-chair of Simsbury High School’s Equity Council and program leader for the Trojan After-School Help Center. She is passionate about supporting lifelong learning for teachers and students, promoting equitable practices in education. Carolyn has also directed youth and community theatre, and had a prior career in nonprofit administration.

Membership Chair & Website Editor

Rob Ford, a 6-12 ELA Leader for North Branford Public Schools and a district teacher-of-the-year in 2017-18, has taught high school English for 18 years. He has published articles in The English Journal, English Leadership Quarterly, and The Explicator, and also presented at several national and international conferences, including conferences on educational technology as well as current topics in ELA at NCTE and NEATE. His mostly-updated CV can be found here. He regularly reviews articles for The English Journal and The Leaflet and also served as newsletter editor for CTCTE and NEATE in the past.

Member at Large & Newsletter Editor

Gina Derasmo teaches English at New Britain High School. She has been lucky to teach at the elementary and middle school levels within the Consolidated School District of New Britain, as well. She serves as a TEAM mentor for the district, instilling confidence and guiding both current and prospective teachers to realize their full potential as difference-makers in children's lives. Her commitment to providing an inclusive and equitable education can be seen in her involvement with several curriculum revision committees, including the development of an Independent Reading Seminar, the current Senior Capstone, and the ninth grade Foundations of English curriculum. She earned her BA in Psychology from the University of Connecticut; MS in Education from the University of Bridgeport; and Sixth Year Certificate in Educational Leadership from Central Connecticut State University. 

Member at Large & Newsletter Editor

Chevaunne Breland teaches English at James Hillhouse High School in New Haven. She has served as a NHPS ELA Department Teacher Facilitator, a Leadership Team member, and Academy Department Lead Teacher. She has been recognized in her district as a TAPS Award recipient and as a New Haven Public School Teacher of the Year Finalist in 2015 & 2017. In 2021, Chevaunne along with two other educators founded New Haven Public School’s first district wide high school literary magazine, Elm City Sage. She enjoys developing curriculum which bridges the gap between skills and popular culture in order to engage all students in an urban academic environment. She earned her BA in English with minors in Studio Arts and African American Studies from Georgetown University and MA at Yale University.

Member at Large

Meredith Sinclair is an associate professor of Secondary English Education at Southern Connecticut State University and a former high school English teacher.   She has a BA in English, MA in Teaching and Ph.D. in Education, all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Her research and teaching focuses on critical, anti-racist pedagogy and critical literacy as a component of justice education for adolescents, pre-service teachers, and practicing educators. She is the co-director of the SCSU Educational Justice Collective and a founding organizer of Change from Within, a professional development model for educational justice. Meredith lives in New Haven with her husband and 4 children.

Member at Large

Joanne R. White, Ph.D. is the K-12 Literacy/English Language Arts Education Consultant at the Connecticut State Department of Education. Her primary role is implementing policies carried out through the State Board of Education rule and Connecticut statute. Joanne’s key responsibilities include developing, implementing, and managing policy programs. She also creates guidance documents and provides technical assistance and content expertise to support public school districts and charter schools.

Member at Large

Lenny Rutigliano currently serves as the Humanities Instructional Coach at Newington High School. As a member of the Instructional Leadership Team, he supports teachers in student literacy development, mastery/standards-based learning practices, SRBI implementation, and technology integration, all with a focus on equity and inclusion. Prior to becoming an instructional coach, he taught high school English in Newington and in Hartford Public Schools. He holds a Sixth Year Degree in Educational Leadership from Quinnipiac University, CAGS, a Masters Degree in Instructional Technology from the University of Saint Joseph, and Bachelors Degree in English from Trinity College.

Member at Large

Nicole Teti is currently a Long-Term English Substitute at JFK Middle School in Enfield, CT. She obtained her BS in Secondary Education from Central Connecticut State University with the highest honors, and she looks forward to putting what she has learned to good use as she enters the teaching field. Nicole currently has a little over a year of teaching experience under her belt and has participated in many online/in-person seminars as both a presenter and an attendee to learn from those with more experience in the profession.