RTO TRAINING SITE - Key Persons
Ann received her bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a master's degree in educational leadership from Eastern Illinois University and has her Learning and Behavior Specialist I certificate. Ann fulfilled many roles in the school setting, including classroom teacher, building administrator, district curriculum coordinator, and district PBIS external coach. In addition, she has been a district and school-level coach for the past twelve years, training PBIS teams and helping educators install behavior supports within an MTSS framework.
Ann maintains her elementary education and general administrative license. She is also a Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) principal and teacher evaluator; a certified School-wide Information Systems (SWIS, SWIS-CICO) facilitator; a Neurosequential Model in Education (NME) certified trauma trainer; an Illinois Balanced and Restorative Justice Project trainer; a Youth Mental Health First Aider; and trained in Instructional Practices Inventory (IPI).
Dr. Stacey Jones Bock is Associate Dean in the College of Education at Illinois State University and Co-PI on the A+ grant. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas, where she co-authored the Asperger Syndrome Diagnostic Scale upon completing her dissertation. In recent years she expanded her line of research to include children with autism spectrum disorders and a dual diagnosis of hearing impairment. Dr. Jones Bock receives invitations to present at conferences, create webinars, write journal articles, and consult for large school districts across the country in this area. She's written grants and received funding totaling over $3.1 million. Her responsibilities on the A+ grant include supporting behavior change teams through coaching sessions and creating content for professional learning.
Job Titles:
- Trauma and Behavior Specialist
Hillary was a school social worker for thirteen years working with students in an elementary school setting. Through her time as a school social worker, Hillary was both a tier one and tier two PBIS coach and a member of the district's problem-solving team. Her specialty is working with students with a trauma history as well as disruptive behaviors. Hillary became a certified trauma trainer in 2018 through STARR Commonwealth. Hillary graduated from Illinois State University in 2009 with her master's in school social work.
Matt received his Bachelor of Science degree from Illinois State University in 2011, and his Master of Business Administration degree from Aurora University in 2018. He previously was an Evaluation Coordinator for the IL AWARE grant held by the Illinois State Board of Education, the Evaluation Specialist for the Illinois MTSS Network (FKA ISTAC), and the Associate Director of Marketing, Technology, and Evaluation also for the Illinois MTSS Network. His responsibilities include instructional design, evaluation, website management, and database management. Matt enjoys spending time with his family, mountain biking, and coaching soccer.
Job Titles:
- Content and Design Specialist
Mindy Bolin received her BA from Illinois Wesleyan University. She has worked for Illinois State University for 17 years in various centers throughout the College of Education. Her primary responsibilities have been editing, website management, and preparing content for learning management systems and presentations. Mindy is mom to Ashley, a teacher in Lexington, and Nick, who was diagnosed with Autism when he was 3 years old and often shares stories of raising her family with content creators. Mindy also serves on the board of Autism McLean.
Having worked in special education for over 15 years, Nikki strives to facilitate success for special education administrators, staff, and students by providing access to information and tools specifically designed to support students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related communication and behavior challenges. Her goal is to understand the needs and challenges of educators working with individuals with students who use severe behavior and be a relevant resource while empowering staff and students to succeed. Nikki has been privileged to work with various learners in home and community settings, including the adult population. Through her experiences and work, Nikki continues to pursue her passion of providing compassionate and high-quality service that is directly tailored to the specific needs of each learner and provide coaching to educators to increase fidelity of implementation. Nikki serves as the co-principal investigator and statewide director of the Autism Professional Learning and Universal Supports and Center for Intensive Behavioral Supports projects.