Ohio Education Staff - Buckeye Community Hope Foundation

Leadership

Peggy

Peggy Young

Director of the Education Division
Email: pyoung@buckeyehope.org

Peggy Young

Peggy has a lifelong focus on education beginning her career as a speech therapist. Peggy has extensive experience in executive leadership, business operations, financial management, and personnel management in both profit and non-profit organizations. Peggy has worked in the Community School Division at Buckeye since its inception with community school sponsorship in 2004. Peggy is instrumental in the growth and accomplishments of the Division and leads an exemplary team of community school consultants throughout the State. Peggy earned a BA and Master's Degree from The Ohio State University and is a licensed Ohio School Treasurer.

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Jennifer

Jennifer L. Schorr

Associate Director of the Education Division
Email: jschorr@buckeyehope.org

Jennifer Schorr

Jennifer Schorr is the Associate Director of the Education Division at Buckeye Community Hope Foundation. Jennifer has spent over 20 years advocating for and supporting school choice and community schools through quality authorizing practices, leadership, and advocacy; shaping education policy in Ohio. Jennifer is part of the national “A-Game” with the National Charter School Institute: advancing great authorizing & modeling excellence to support charter school authorizers in measuring the quality and effectiveness of alternative education campuses. In addition, Jennifer serves as the President of the Ohio Association of Charter School Authorizers (OACSA) leading Ohio’s authorizing community by advancing best practices, engaging in reform and advocacy, and most importantly - keeping community school students and families at the center of the work at both BCHF and OACSA.

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Carol

Dr. Carol Young

Accountability and School Improvement Department Lead
Email: cyoung@buckeyehope.org

Dr. Carol Young

Dr. Young provides professional development, data analysis, and technical assistance to BCHF sponsored schools. Dr. Young holds a Ph.D. in educational administration from Ohio University, with a specialization in educational tests and measurement. Dr. Young has served two Ohio districts as superintendent, and she has served in Maryland and Ohio as a middle school principal, curriculum coordinator, special education director, teacher and speech-language pathologist. Dr. Young is a successful researcher and author on topics including Teaching, Leadership, Special Education and Curriculum.

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Jason

Jason Moore

Compliance and Fiscal Team Lead
Email: jmoore@buckeyehope.org

Jason Moore

Jason has been working with Community Schools across Ohio since 2008. Jason has served as both licensed Treasurer and School Director for a number of community schools, as well as, a member of the founding team for five schools in Columbus, Toledo, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. Jason brings experience in all aspects of operating and leading a school. Jason earned his BS in Business at Miami University and his MBA in Finance from Wright State University. Jason is also an Adjunct Professor of Finance at Wright State University.

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School Improvement Team

Mindy

Mindy Farry

School Improvement Representative
Email: mfarry@buckeyehope.org

Mindy Farry

Mindy is an integral part of the BCHF school improvement team with an emphasis in the areas of classroom management, teacher training, and administrator coaching. Mindy brings with her forty-five years of experience as a teacher, school administrator, and educational consultant. Mindy’s experience in both urban and suburban settings has led to expertise in school management, classroom organization, professional learning communities, and instructional strategies. Mindy works with the Ohio Department of Education training teachers and principals in both OTES and OPES. Mindy is a certified Buck Institute for Education Project Based Learning instructor and a certified Time to Teach trainer. Mindy has a master’s degree in English Education and in Educational Administration.

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Illie

Illie Massey

School Improvement Representative
Email: imassey@buckeyehope.org

Illie Massey

Illie Massey is an experienced educator who joined BCHF in 2022 with a passion for promoting equity in education.

As the chair of the Special Education department, Illie provided technical assistance to educators in areas such as writing IEPs, implementing behavior programs, and utilizing data to improve classroom management. She also conducted regular audits to ensure that IEPs were of the highest quality and compliant with regulations. In addition, Illie facilitated professional development sessions on a variety of topics, including culturally responsive teaching, bias, and effective classroom management strategies.

Beyond her work in special education, Illie has also served as a Dean of Curriculum and Academics in math instruction as well as an Academic Manager for Job Corps. She holds a bachelor's degree from Central State University and a master's degree.

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Stan

Stan Nicol

Data Analysis and School Accountability
Email: snicol@buckeyehope.org

Stan Nicol

Stan Nicol is a graduate of Muskingum University and Ashland University. Stan brings 33 years of experience in education as a high school science teacher, Track/Cross Country coach, EMIS supervisor, and data accountability director. Stan has worked with both traditional and charter schools. Stan is an admitted “data geek,” having worked extensively with state and local student and school performance data. Stan’s most recent endeavors have been focused on data analysis including, EMIS, Ohio School Report Card data, student information systems (Sis) and NWEA test reporting and analysis. We know that Stan will be an asset to our sponsored schools in offering technical assistance with state and local data and performance measurement.

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Joni

Joni Byus

School Improvement Representative
Email: jbyus@buckeyehope.org

Joni Byus

Joni Byus is a veteran educator and specialist in many areas of curriculum and instruction. A graduate of Marshall University, Joni holds a BA in Elementary Education and an MA in Gifted Education. Joni’s depth of educational experiences includes elementary classroom teaching, instructional coaching, and most recently, extensive work as an Academic Dean. Joni has worked with both traditional and charter schools. Joni’s specific areas of experience and expertise involve Early Literacy and Supervising Title I programs, and how to best use available resources.

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Brit

Brittney Seward

School Improvement Representative
Email: bseward@buckeyehope.org

Brit Seward

Brittney (Brit) Seward is a Teach for America Greater Cleveland alumni most recently employed by Citizens Academy East – a respected charter school in Cleveland – where she was a fourth-grade math and science teacher. As the upper elementary lead teacher, Brit was responsible for providing guidance for six teachers in grades three and four by supporting planning, mentoring, observing, and evaluating performance. Brit also served as the fourth-grade math course leader responsible for conducting curriculum audits, planning content, and creating assessments for all fourth-grade math teachers across 12 schools within the Breakthrough network of charter schools. Brit earned her Master’s in Education, Health, Physical Education and Recreation, and her
Bachelor of Science in Education, Physical Education, from Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.

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Zoe

Zoe Plotnick

School Improvement Representative
Email: zplotnick@buckeyehope.org

Zoe Plotnick

A member of the Education Division since 2022, Zoe has taught English language learners, special education, at-risk intervention, and English language arts in public and community schools in Ohio, Arizona and Colorado. She also spent time working with international students in higher education while serving as the Student Services Coordinator for the University of Dayton Libraries. Zoe obtained a B.A. in English from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from Arizona State University, and is currently working towards completion of a doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Dayton. Her areas of expertise include content-based language instruction, refugee populations, student engagement, literacy intervention, and culturally responsive assessment.

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Regional Representatives

Kim

Kim Blevins

Regional Representative
Email: kblevins@buckeyehope.org

Kim Blevins

Kim joined the BCHF team in 2022. Kim has experience working with preschool-aged children including substitute teaching grades K-12. In addition, she holds a Master’s in Organizational Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. ​Bachelor of Science in Education, Physical Education, from Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.

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Maureen

Maureen Barbessi

Regional Representative
Email: mbarbessi@buckeyehope.org

Maureen Barbessi

Maureen has been part of the BCHF compliance team since 2010.  Prior to BCHF, she assisted schools and other non-profit organizations in their fundraising efforts.  Maureen holds a Bachelor in science of Business Administration with a focus in Advertising and Public Relations.  Maureen enjoys using her years of experience and continuing education to assist schools and other BCHF representatives in achieving and maintaining a high level of compliance.  Bachelor of Science in Education, Physical Education, from Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.

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Nicole Brock

Nicole Brock

Regional Representative
Email: nbrock@buckeyehope.org

Nicole Brock

Nicole has been working as an educator and administrator since 2000. Nicole’s experience spans both K-12 and collegiate level education. Nicole holds a Master’s in Educational Leadership and a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in Educational Sociology and Foundations. In addition, Nicole served as a founding member of an elementary charter school board in Toledo, Ohio.

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Joe Calinger

Joe Calinger

Regional Representative
Email: jcalinger@buckeyehope.org

Joe Calinger

Joe earned his Bachelor of Science in Education from Youngstown State University. Joe possesses a wide range of educational experience from teaching middle school for the Austintown School District, to administrative experience at Kent State University, as well as program administration for Sylvan Learning. Joe is a senior member of the BCHF staff, having served since 2006. Born outside of Pittsburgh, PA, he is a lifelong Pittsburgh fanatic and a walking sports encyclopedia

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Josh

Joshua Gossett

Regional Representative
Email: jgossett@buckeyehope.org

Joshua Gossett

Josh joined the Education Division’s compliance team in 2016. Josh has a depth of experience in the financial planning and retail industries, and holds state and federal-level credentials in investment advising. Josh has enjoyed a career of empowering families and select businesses to reach their financial goals through specialized communications, quality assurance, and management. A graduate of ITT Technical Institute, Josh also has training and experience in engineering technologies.

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Karen

Karen Rose

Regional Representative
Email: krose@buckeyehope.org

Karen Rose

Karen has spent the last several years working with teachers and students in the greater Columbus area while attaining her credentials in special education. Karen holds a BA degree in English from Kent State University and a BA from Ashland University, and is a licensed Intervention Specialist K-12 Mild/Moderate. Prior to her work in education, Karen worked in various public service and human resource positions.
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Flip

Office Assistant

Flip

Flip is an essential member of the BCHF team, providing moral support and cuddles.

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