May 2021 Speakers
Amy Collins, Supervisor of Special Education, Pennsauken Public Schools
Amy Collins has worked in Special Education for over 20 years and is currently the Supervisor of Special Education at Pennsauken and Burling High Schools as well as the 18-21 year vocational transition program. She has been passionate about creating programs for students with special education needs that allow them to stay in their home district as well as prepare them for whatever stage is next in their life.
Amy’s innovative work in creating programs helps in the Federal Mental Health Demonstration Grant as we hire additional mental health counselors, partnering with Rowan University to provide training to graduate students to better serve Pennsauken students in overall well-being. It is a critical time to provide support to all students given their absence from the school building for the last year and the upheaval of what was normal throughout the country. Amy continues to work to improve access to all students to these services provided within the district.
Thomas Cox, Counselor, Pennsauken Public Schools
Thomas has spent the past 15 years in the world of helping professions. A graduate of Delran High School, he went on to Rutgers University in Camden, and completed his Masters of Social Work in 2006. At Wilmington University, he completed coursework for certification as a school counselor. During the course of Thomas's career, he has received training in play therapy, Accelerated Resolution Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools.
While Thomas has worked in partial hospitalization programs, an inpatient psychiatric hospital setting, and a private therapeutic behavioral school, it is at Pennsauken Public School District that he found his dream job. As a counselor there, he has been able to see students from elementary through middle school, while they grow in both their academic and emotional skills. As co-director of the Mental Health Demonstration Grant, he has been able to be a guide to future mental health professionals as they learned and applied new skills while helping Pennsauken students actualize their mental health.
Sue Gamm, Esq.
Sue Gamm, Esq., has blended her legal and special education programmatic expertise, unique experience as a cabinet-member large urban school district administrator, and federal civil rights advocate to become a highly regarded national special education expert as an author, presenter, consultant and evaluator of system wide policies and practices. Ms. Gamm has consulted with the Public Consulting Group (PCG) since her retirement in 2004 from the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) as its Chief Specialized Services Officer. With CPS, Ms. Gamm managed special education and student support services, alternative education, gifted and talented services, and safe and drug free school programs. Responsible for overseeing a budget of more than $600 million, services for 57,000 children with disabilities in over 600 schools, and supervision of about 1,800 staff, she initiated a variety of data-based management strategies to support decision-making, accountability and communication. Prior to CPS, Ms. Gamm was employed by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), U.S. Department of Education, where she served as an assistant civil rights attorney and District Director with responsibility for elementary and secondary compliance and technical assistance activities in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Her civil rights work concentrated on the areas of disability, race/ethnicity and gender.
In addition to PCG, Ms. Gamm also works with the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative and the Council of Great City Schools. Independently and through these organizations, she has provided consultation services to states (IL, LA, RI and NV) and school districts in over 20 states, including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, Boston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, St. Paul, St. Louis, Atlanta, Austin, Hartford, Yonkers, Rochester, Milwaukee, Guilford County (NC), Richmond (VG), Charleston (SC); and a charter school organization in Illinois. Ms. Gamm has also used her expertise on behalf of school districts involved in federal litigation, including involvement with the Council of Great City Schools’ draft of amicus curiae briefs supporting school districts in two recent U.S. Supreme Court special education cases.
From her unique perspective as an attorney, Federal official, urban school district cabinet member and special educator, Ms. Gamm has shared her knowledge of IDEA and its related issues at numerous national, state and local conferences. In addition to writing articles, periodicals and special education policy and procedural manuals, she co-authored with Dr. Thomas Hehir Special Education: from Legalism to Collaboration, in Law and School Reform: Six Strategies for Promoting Educational Equity. Ms. Gamm also wrote three LRP Publications: Disproportionality in Special Education: Determining When and Why Over identification of Minority Students Occurs; Cracking the Code: IDEA and NCLB Alternate Assessment Rules Made Simple; and When OCR Comes Calling: An Insider’s Guide to Handling Disability Complaint Investigations and Compliance Reviews. Finally, in recognition of her expertise, she has been asked to testify about special education matters before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, the U.S. Senate HELP Committee, the Illinois legislature, and the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education’s Accountability Systems Task Force.
Terrence McStravick, Mental Health Counselor, Pennsauken Public Schools
Terrence “TJ” McStravick is the Mental Health Counselor at BuRRRling High School. The three Rs in BuRRRling stand for Respect, Responsibility and Restore. They are the foundation of the Albert E. Burling High School. TJ has worked with students from pre k through 12th grade as a Teacher, Counselor and Administrator. He is trained in the Nurtured Heart Approach, Restorative Practices and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. TJ is committed to ensuring students meet with success, the Social/Emotional well being of the Pennsauken community and developing programs to help everyone get there.
Dr. Joseph Meloche, Superintendent, Cherry Hill Public Schools
After nearly 30 years in public education, Dr. Joseph Meloche was appointed Superintendent in August 2015. His educational background includes teaching Humanities and English at the middle school level and serving Cherry Hill as the principal of Kingston Elementary School, Carusi Middle School and Cherry Hill High School West. In 2013, he became Director of Curriculum and eight months later was appointed Assistant Superintendent for Pre-K-12. Dr. Meloche holds degrees from DeSales University, Holy Family University, and Widener University.
As Superintendent, Dr. Meloche provides the critically essential leadership for an environment of excellence in academics and character, while motivating and engaging students to share their voices as scholars and as people. In 2020, he was named the Camden County Superintendent of the Year and the New Jersey Association of School Administrators State Superintendent of the Year. In 2019, he was named Outstanding Administrator of the Year by the New Jersey Association of School Librarians. 2018, he was named Superintendent of the Year by the NJ PTA and a “Leader to Learn From” by Education Week.
Alexandra Pensiero, School Psychologist, Pennsauken Public Schools
Alexandra’s career in education began with over a decade of teaching students in a positive behavior support program, in both private and public sectors. She continued on her educational journey as a school psychologist within Pennsauken School District. Her passion lies in the development of services and redirecting the perspective and skills for working with students who are demonstrating maladaptive behaviors that impact their learning. In 2018, Alexandra collaborated with Rowan University to be awarded 1.6 million dollars for a US Department of Education Mental Health Demonstration Grant. As Pennsauken’s Co-Director of the grant, she is responsible for facilitating trainings, development of programming, and progress monitoring. Having a variety of perspectives built from a multitude of roles and responsibilities within a school system, Alex provides a unique lense of how innovative development, data analysis, and a solution-focused mindset can positively impact the growth of intervention services.
Nicole L. Speigel, School Social Worker and Mental Health Counselor, Pennsauken Public Schools
Nicole Speigel is a School Social Worker and Mental Health Counselor in Pennsauken School District. A graduate of Cherry Hill West, she completed her Bachelor of Science in Clinical Counseling Psychology at Kutztown University, then her Master of Social Work at Rutgers University in 2010, graduating with honors. She has 10 years of experience as a counselor working with special education students of all ages. She is trained in the Nurtured Heart Approach and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Her passion is working with teenagers and the daily challenges they face in life, specifically their mental health needs and education. She is committed to respecting all students and empowering them socially and emotionally throughout their academic years and beyond.
LaCoyya Weathington, Assistant Superintendent of Compliance, Equity and Student Services, Cherry Hill Public Schools
LaCoyya Weathington serves as the Assistant Superintendent of Compliance, Equity and Student Services for the Cherry Hill Public School District. Her prior role was the Director of Pupil Services, a position she held since 2012. LaCoyya’s background in education spans 27 years with a focus on improving educational opportunities for students in New Jersey.
Prior to joining the Cherry Hill Public School District, she was employed by the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission where she served as the Director of Education. In this role she led the education program for students in the juvenile justice system.
She spent 10 years working for the New Jersey Department of Education where she served as a specialist and then a coordinator responsible for the development and administration of programs including social services in schools, school health services, innovative programs, dropout prevention and alternative education.
Prior to joining state government, she served as a school social worker for the Perth Amboy Board of Education.
Ms. Weathington is a graduate of Rutgers University where she obtained a bachelor's degree and a master’s degree in Social Work with a concentration in Administration, Policy and Planning.
Additionally, as Coordinator of School Health and Social Services, she was instrumental in obtaining a 3.5 million dollar cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement the New Jersey Department of Education’s first Coordinated School health program. During her tenure at the Department of Education, Ms. Weathington co-created several training and technical assistance materials including documents for the department such as A Guide for the Operation and Approval of Middle and High School Alternative Education Programs, and Strategies for Strengthening Student Centered Practice-Health and Social Services in Secondary Schools. Prior to joining state government, Ms. Weathington served as a school social worker for the Perth Amboy Board of Education.
Ms. Weathington’s juvenile justice experience includes serving on the Middlesex County Youth Services Commission, the New Jersey Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Advisory Committee, where as a volunteer member she served as Vice Chair of the Northern Regional Coalition and the Perth Amboy Juvenile Conference Committee where she served as its chairperson.
Ms. Weathington is a graduate of Rutgers University where she obtained a baccalaureate degree and a master’s degree in Social Work with a concentration in Administration, Policy and Planning.