AMLE Board of Trustees

Stephanie Patton, Area Superintendent, OH
Chair
Stephanie currently serves as an Area Superintendent for Columbus City Schools. She oversees 19 schools, specifically 5 middle schools. Stephanie was previously the principal of an all-girls middle school focusing on equity, girl empowerment, and high academic standards.
Contact Stephanie
Chandra Diaz, Associate Dean, CO
Vice Chair
Chandra was a middle school math educator for 12 years in Lincoln, NE and prepared middle level education majors for 7 years at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She is currently the Associate Dean in the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver in Denver, CO and currently belongs to the Colorado Association of Middle Level Educators (CAMLE).
Contact Chandra
Rachel Graham, Executive Director, IL
Executive Council
Rachel is the Executive Director of Success Bound, a postsecondary program working with middle schools and districts across the country, and a Strategic Advisor at the Lefkofsky Family Foundation where she supports the foundation’s grantmaking.
Contact Rachel
Maya Kratzke, Middle & High School Dean of Students, MD
Executive Council
Maya Kratzke holds a double-B.A. in Creative Writing and Literary Studies from Beloit College, an M.S. in Secondary Education from Johns Hopkins University, and a Certificate in School Management & Leadership from Harvard University. Ms. Kratzke serves on the Middle School Advisory Network for MBA Research. A short story writer by trade, she has published short stories in The Write Launch and The Bangalore Review.
Contact Maya
Andrew Maxey, Director of Strategic Initiatives, AL
Executive Council
Andrew currently serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at Tuscaloosa City Schools in Alabama. He is co-host of AMLE's Research to Practice podcast.
Contact Andrew
Sandy Cameli, Education Specialist, HI
Sandy has taught in Hawai‘i schools for over 35 years. From classroom practitioner, to supporting beginning & mentor teachers, to facilitating a Teacher Leader Academy, to now elevating middle level learners through student leadership opportunities. Dr. Cameli is an author and seasoned presenter at state and national levels, where she enjoys connecting with other passionate and purposeful educators!
Contact Sandy
Katie Johnson, Principal, VA
Katie Johnson, currently the principal of Belmont Ridge Middle School in Leesburg, Virginia, has 18 years of experience in education, with 14 years at the middle school level. Under her leadership, Belmont Ridge has received multiple accolades, including being named a School of Distinction and a National School to Watch. Mrs. Johnson, who holds degrees from SUNY Binghamton, Hofstra University, and George Mason University, is also involved in various educational associations and was recently inducted into the Loudoun County Women’s Hall of Fame.
Contact Katie
Walter Lee, Assistant Professor, SC
After teaching in Title I schools for more than five years, Walter now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina Upstate where he is also the coordinator of the University’s Call Me MiSTER program.
Contact Walter
Sabine Phillips, Principal, FL
Sabine B. Phillips currently serves as the Principal of Margate STEM Magnet Middle School located in Broward County, Florida. She has been a Middle School Principal for the past 16 years and an educator in the same district for over thirty years. She is an Executive Board Member of the Florida League of Middle Schools, and has served as a faculty member for the AMLE Leadership Institutes.
Contact Sabine
Cyndi Plemons, Teacher, GA
Cyndi currently serves as a middle school English Language Arts (ELA) teacher at Putnam County Middle School in Eatonton, Georgia where she completed her student teaching internship. She was in the inaugural AMLE student ambassador group, and has since become one of the mentors for undergraduate ambassadors.
Contact Cyndi
Megan Vosk, Teacher, Laos
Megan has taught middle school students for more than twenty years in the United States and overseas in Vientiane, New Delhi, Seoul, and Abu Dhabi. She is passionate about social justice, inclusion, and fostering belonging in our learning spaces.
Contact Megan
Toni Williams, Professor, SC
Toni M. Williams is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at the University of South Carolina. Her research and scholarship build on social justice, equity, culturally sustaining pedagogies in middle level teacher education. She is committed to engaging and supporting pre-service middle level teacher candidates as they transition to novice middle school educators.
Contact Toni

2025 Board of Trustees Nominations Now Open

The AMLE Elections Committee is now accepting nominations for two open positions on the Board of Trustees. AMLE’s Board of Trustees provides critical strategic vision and leadership that enables AMLE to fulfill its mission to help middle grades educators reach every student, grow professionally, and create great schools.

Trustees serve six-year terms that begin in January of each year. Nominations must be received by June 30, 2025 to be considered.

Explore Trustee qualifications and expectations or connect with Chandra Diaz Debose, Chair of the AMLE Elections Committee at chdiazdebo@msudenver.edu. Have questions about the nomination process? Contact ssimpson@amle.org.

Submit your Nomination

AMLE Staff

Stephanie Simpson
Chief Executive Officer
ssimpson@amle.org

Derek Neal
Chief Operating Officer
dneal@amle.org

Katie Powell
Director for Middle Level Programs
kpowell@amle.org

Kristy Yonyon
Marketing / Membership Coordinator
kyonyon@amle.org

Megan Mooney
Accounting Manager
mmooney@amle.org

Marcia Meade-Hurst
Senior Member Center Specialist
mmeadehurst@amle.org

Helen Polansky
Partnerships Manager
hpolansky@amle.org

Sarah Pennington
CMLA West Chapter At-Large Advisor

Kristie Smith
CMLA East Chapter At-Large Advisor
Middle School Journal Co-Editor

Dr. Lisa Harrison
Middle School Journal Co-Editor

Dr. Ellis Hurd
Middle School Journal Co-Editor and CAEP Coordinator

Dr. David Virtue
Research in Middle Level Education Online Journal Editor

Past Presidents/Chairs

AMLE is grateful to the dedicated educators who have served as President/Chair and who have contributed to our rich history

2022-2023 Lisa Harrison
2020-2021 James Barnes
2019 Christine Thielen
2018 Nancy Ruppert
2017 Pam Millikan
2016 Kathleen McCaffery
2015 Ashley Smith,
2014 Mike Muir
2013 Jeff LaRoux
2012 Nancy Poliseno
2011 Joan Jarrett
2010 Cathie Thibodeau
2009 Janet Vernon,
2008 Theresa Hinckle
2007 Mike Dietz
2006 Patti Kinney
2005 Kathy McAvoy
2004 Marc Ecker
2003 Linda Robinson
2002 Deborah Kasak
2001-2002   Santo Pino
2000-20001 Fran Salyers
1999-2000 Marion Payne
1998-1999 Walt Grebing
1997-1998 Pete Lorain

1996-1997 Ross Burkhart
1995-1996 Jerry Adrian
1994-1995 Charlene Pike
1993-1994 Betty Edwards
1992-1993 Sue Swaim
1991-1992 Jeanette Phillips
1990-1991 Julia Thomason
1989-1990 James Garvin
1988-1989 Conrad Toepfer
1987-1988 Robert Shockley
1986-1987 Gerald Bourgeois
1985-1986 Ann Moniot
1984-1985 Ronald Johnson
1983-1984 Kenneth McEwin
1982-1983 Mary Compton
1981- 1982 Sherri Scott
1980-1981 John Swaim
1979-1980 Louis Romano
1978-1979  James Fox
1977-1978  Robert Malinka
1976-1977 Thomas Gatewood
1975-1976 Keith Brown
1974-1975 Glenn Maynard
1973-1974 Hal Gladdis
1972-1973 Gordon Vars