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WORKSHOP PRESENTERS GALLERY
Evan St. Lifer
Evan St. Lifer is vice president of digital initiatives and new business development for Scholastic. In
addition to his work for Scholastic Library Publishing, Evan has also headed up product development for
the Scholastic Classroom Group, yielding award-winning products including BookFlix, Cozy Corner, and
Scholastic’s After School Learning program. Prior to coming to Scholastic, he was editor-in-chief of
School
Library Journal
(SLJ). Evan is committed to helping identify, build, and most importantly, scale the most
dynamic and effective models of school library practice that have the greatest impact on student learning.
He continues to be a fervent believer and advocate for ensuring that “school libraries, run by dynamic
teacher/librarians, are woven into the learning fabric of every school.” It was this desire to help create a
pervasive culture of excellence and improved learning outcomes that drove him to create and launch the
School Library Journal Leadership Summit and Curriculum Connections while at SLJ.
Workshop: The Seven Habits of Highly Impactful Librarians (All Locations)
Lauren Tarshis
Lauren Tarshis has spent the past 25 years creating content designed to engage and inspire kids, with
a special focus on struggling and reluctant readers. She is the author of Scholastic’s I Survived historical
fiction series. Lauren is vice president group editor of
Scholastic Classroom
magazines, and the long-time
editor of the award-winning
Storyworks
magazine, which has more than one million readers in grades four
through five. The newly developed
Storyworks Jr
, for third grade will launch in September 2016.
Workshop: The Nonfiction Reading Kit: Strategies for Engaging Readers With Short Nonfiction
Marsha Thauwald
Marsha Thauwald has been in education for 38 years. She has been an elementary teacher, elementary
principal, assistant superintendent, and university professor. She is currently working as an education con-
sultant and the district mentor coordinator for Midway ISD. Marsha has written many educational profes-
sional learning sessions that she has presented in conferences at the state and national levels. She recently
published her first middle grade fiction novel in June 2015 —
Big Southern Hair & Highlights
. She is a
member of the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and the Texas Elementary
Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA).
Workshop: Raising the Student Achievement Bar With Independent Reading
Joyce Valenza
After completing 25 years of joyful practice as a teacher librarian in K-12 education, Joyce Valenza joined
the faculty of Rutgers University where she is an assistant teaching professor in the Master of Information
program. Joyce has worked in special, public, and school libraries. She writes the
Neverending Search
Blog
for
School Library Journal
and contributes to several other library and edtech publications. Joyce is active
in AASL, ALA, and ISTE and considers herself one of the godmothers of the #tlchat network.
Workshop: The Seven Habits of Highly Impactful Librarians
Sherri Wilson
Sherri Wilson is the director of consultative services at Scholastic and is a founding partner of the Center
for Active Family Engagement (Café). Formerly, she served as the senior manager of family engagement at
the National PTA, where she oversaw the implementation of the National PTA Standards for Family School
Partnerships and led the Urban Family Engagement Initiative. She provided training, information, and
support to National PTA staff, as well as state and local members, related to family engagement and the
implementation of the National PTA Standards for Family School Partnerships.
Workshop: Building the Capacity of Families to Engage in Children’s Literacy