PROACTIVEED - Key Persons


A. T. Nelson - President

Job Titles:
  • President
A.T. (Tremain) leverages his experience to provide consultation and coaching at the state, district, and campus levels, resulting in systematic change around the execution of professional learning communities and math instruction. For more than 15 years, he has served as a teacher, administrator and consultant in the public school system. A highly sought-after speaker, Tremain has presented at educational conferences including NCTM, ASCD, CAMT, TASSP and NASBE.

Catherine "Cathy" Palmer

Job Titles:
  • Professional Development Advisor
Cathy has been in education for over 25 years. Her passion is teaching special education as she believes all students can learn with the appropriate instruction. She has served as a teacher and administrator at the school and district level as well as an educational consultant in the state of Hawaii serving grades PreK-12. As a special education advocate she understands the specialized instruction students needed through accommodating and modifying grade level standards, conducting formative and summative assessments, analyzing data, and providing targeted instruction based on student needs.

Dr. Precious Parks

Job Titles:
  • Professional Development Advisor
Dr. Parks has been in the early care and education field for more than 20 years. She has used her deep knowledge and practice of early learning to help schools build enabling systems to support social, emotional, and behavioral readiness to increase proficiency of foundational skills. From teacher assistant to elementary principal, she has seen first hand the complexities facing the student and teacher that are hindering positive outcomes for both. She is dedicated to problem-solving the issues that inhibit leaders, teachers and students from thriving and reaching their fullest potential.

Kara Harris-Nelson

Job Titles:
  • Director of Academic Support Services
Kara's passion for student achievement can be seen as she coaches students and parents through the K-12 teaching and learning environment. She personally designs and manages customized educational plans that incorporate both academic coaching and academic tutorials. She partners with schools, students, and parents to ensure there is coherence, communication, and synergy among all stakeholders involved in every child's education.

Lori Hamel

Job Titles:
  • Professional Development Advisor
Lori Hamel was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai'i and recently retired from her alma mater, Roosevelt High School. She taught English, drama, and news writing and served as department chair for several years before she was encouraged to take on the role as curriculum coordinator. When providing professional development to teacher groups on and off-campus in support of teaching strategies, data teams, curriculum mapping, formative instruction, and more, she strives to engage participants in the learning experience and model practices that can be utilized in the classroom. She enjoys the ongoing process of learning as much as possible to support the improvement of classroom.

Regina Misra

Job Titles:
  • Professional Development Advisor
Regina Argueta-Misra has worked in the field of education for 12 years as a classroom teacher, grade level administrator, and instructional coach. She is a successful staff development trainer and instructional coach passionate about creating meaningful connections with teachers to build instructional capacity. As a bilingual, dual-language teacher she understands the challenges and rewards of developing instructional and cultural connections with students whose second language is English. Regina specializes in bringing her experience as a dual language educator and culturally responsive teacher to her work as a consultant and coach.

Stacy Owens

Job Titles:
  • Professional Development Advisor
Stacy Owens-Helms has been supporting educators and students for over fifteen years. Her years as a classroom teacher, mentor teacher, teacher-lead, instructional coach, district ELA curriculum coordinator and national literacy consultant have fortified her deep understanding of best instructional practices and systems implementation. Providing engaging and relevant support to both teachers and leaders makes Stacy a solution oriented partner. Whether it's designing adult learning opportunities or modeling high-yield, differentiated lesson studies in live classrooms, Stacy brings a positive approach and innovative mindset to any teaching and learning community.

Tom Hierck

Job Titles:
  • Professional Development Advisor
Tom has nearly 40 years of experience in education. His experiences as a teacher, administrator, district leader, department of education project leader, and executive director have provided a unique context for his education philosophy. The bulk of this work centers on the themes of identifying school purpose and building relationships, culture, proper responses to instruction and intervention. Tom has spent considerable time working in areas where there is a high indigenous student population (every province and territory in Canada, a dozen states in the United States, and in Australia) to help create environments that support and encourage success for these students.

Yolanda Sisney

Job Titles:
  • Director of Professional Learning
Yolanda incorporates over 15 years of account management experience to establish an effective, deeply implemented set of strategies that align with the educator priorities, thus helping to build a more efficient and effective school organization focused solely on student achievement. She is responsible for working directly with schools and districts to secure district contracts, organize and professional develop support, and maintain school partnerships.