Bios for Albany PD Presenters
Suzanne Plaut is Director of Common Core Initiatives for Expeditionary Learning, coleading the NYS curriculum project. From 2005-2012, she served as the Vice President
of the Public Education & Business Coalition (PEBC), a Denver-based non-profit known
for its long-term customized professional development with a strong literacy emphasis.
She has trained teachers and district leaders in contexts ranging from urban Washington
D.C. to small town Nebraska. Suzanne earned a doctorate at Harvard Graduate School of
Education where she received a Spencer Research Training Grant and served on the
editorial board of the Harvard Educational Review. Suzanne taught high school English
in Denver and served as Director of Literacy in a Boston Public School. She edited The
Right to Literacy in Secondary Schools: Creating a Culture of Thinking (2009, TC Press),
co-edited Education Policy and Practice: Bridging the Divide (2003, Harvard Education
Press) and has published in Education Week and the English Journal.
Cheryl Dobbertin is Expeditionary Learning’s Director of NYS Curriculum and
Professional Development Innovation, co-leading the New York State Curriculum
Project. She has worked in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo with multiple urban, public
and charter elementary schools and an urban charter high school. Cheryl taught middle
and high school English Language Arts, served as a literacy specialist, and was the
former Director of Professional Development at Monroe2 BOCES. In addition to her
work with Expeditionary Learning, Cheryl currently teaches Differentiated Instruction at
Nazareth College. She has a published chapter in ASCD’s Differentiation in Practice, a
chapter in Rachel Billmeyer’s Strategic Reading in the Content Areas, and several
articles in ASCD’S Educational Leadership and in Education Week online. She is a
frequent facilitator at institutes focused on literacy and differentiation.
Amaris Obregon is currently an Expeditionary Learning School Designer based in the
Pacific Northwest, serving as a school coach at six different Expeditionary Learning
schools across several states. Amaris is a former teacher, counselor, assistant principal,
principal. She founded two Expeditionary Learning charter schools (in Atlanta, GA and
Dallas, TX). Amaris holds a Masters degree in counseling and educational leadership
from Sam Houston State University. Amaris grew up bilingual in Venezuela, and is an
expert in English as a Second Language and second language acquisition. An
experienced presenter, Amaris works across the Expeditionary Learning network with
dual language schools, and is a facilitator for institutes on project-based learning design,
assessments and daily instruction.
Lily Newman currently serves as an Expeditionary Learning School Designer based in
New England. She taught grades 4-12 in a variety of urban settings, and was also a coach
and trainer. Lily founded and opened secondary schools in Mexico as well as several
Expeditionary Learning schools in Massachusetts. Her work is focused on turn-around
schools: aiding schools struggling to meet state and national standards and focusing on
differentiated instruction. Lily also supports and mentors school leaders in strategic
planning to maximize student achievement, and mentors other Expeditionary Learning
staff. She currently designs, develops, and facilitates standards-based training for schools
and teachers, as well as serving as Expeditionary Learning’s key staff member overseeing
a Masters of Arts in Teaching program to license teachers in Expeditionary Learning
schools. Lily is also a former board member and active leader for professional
development in the Massachusetts Writing Project.
Gwyneth Hagan is an Expeditionary Learning School Designer based in Virginia.
Gwyneth taught Kindergarten in Fairfax County Public Schools and Kindergarten
through fourth grade subjects in Chesterfield County Public Schools, where she served as
the lead social studies teacher. She is currently helping to write a project-based
curriculum planning guide for Expeditionary Learning. The guide, known as the
Designing Learning Expeditions Toolkit, is written in order to help teachers plan
interdisciplinary standards-based units that engage students using compelling case studies
and connections to their community. Gwyneth frequently presents on the subject of
literacy in the primary grades and on instructional coaching.
Cyndi Gueswel is currently the Director of EL Commons, an online collaborative space
for professional development related to the Expeditionary Learning model. She serves as
national staff for Expeditionary Learning, developing and organizing programmatic
resources. A former teacher, library media specialist, and instructional coach, Cyndi
worked in both public and charter schools before joining Expeditionary Learning.
Working as a School Designer, she has led site-based professional development and
coached teachers in varied settings—K-12, rural and suburban—on every aspect of
school reform: curriculum, instruction, assessment, culture, and leadership. As
Expeditionary Learning’s regional director for the Rocky Mountain region, Cyndi
oversaw the progress of a whole cluster of schools and school leaders. She has developed
and presented at many national-level professional development institutes on a wide
variety of topics, focusing on student-engaged assessment, leadership, instructional
coaching, and literacy. Most recently, Cyndi has taken on a leadership role in the
Hewlettt Foundation's Deeper Learning Community of Practice, an association of 10
school reform models.
Scott Gill is the Southwest Regional Director and Director of Adventure and Nature
Programming for Expeditionary Learning and Outward Bound. He is a former junior high
school teacher, Dean of Students, and Expeditionary Learning School Designer, Scott
holds a Ph.D in Educational Administration and a Masters degree in Educational
Administration both from the University of Wisconsin. Before coming to Expeditionary
Learning, Scott served as the Dean of Students and as Instructional Coordinator for the
Dubuque Community School District, where he oversaw of science and math curriculum
study and adoptions as well as the design and coordination of district-wide staff
development. He is an active lecturer and presenter, speaking at numerous local, state and
national conferences on school reform as well as math and science instruction and active
pedagogy.