Vanessa Heller
Mrs. Heller grew up in the San Fernando Valley and then spent her young adult years in South Orange County, graduating with a degree in Ethnic Studies and earning her teaching credential from UC Irvine. Mrs. Heller is now an educator in her 23rd year of teaching. She is a middle school humanities teacher for Oak Park Unified, GATE Coordinator for Medea Creek M.S., Director of the Oak Park Inquiry Institute, a district Peer Coach, and a member of her district's Innovators, helping colleagues incorporate technology into their pedagogical practices. She regularly presents on best practices in gifted education and inquiry for school districts and education organizations. In her spare time, Vanessa is a mom to two talented teenage daughters and is never far from a good edu-read or a Twitter chat.
Hillary St. George
Hillary St. George is the Branch Manager of the Chatsworth Branch Library, one of 72 branches of the Los Angeles Public Library system. She manages a staff of ten librarians and clerical staff who work to serve the patrons of their community providing in-person and online library service that includes reference service, collection development and programming. Prior to working as a Branch Manager, Ms. St. George served as an Adult Librarian and a Young Adult Librarian for Hollywood and valley branches in the library system since 2005. As an active public service librarian she has worked with young adults and adults, tailoring programs to meet her audiences' needs and interests and conducting outreach in the community to help new and current patrons discover the library. Ms. St. George has also been an active member of the American Library Association, serving on the Stonewall Book Awards' Committee for Children's and Young Adult Literature for two years. Ms. St. George received her M.F.A. from New York University in 1997 and her M.L.I.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2005.
Vanessa Heller
Education
- Graduated from UC Irvine with a degree in Comparative Studies
- Went into internship teaching program
- Advice: observe and understand who you are as a person as well as who you are with others
Daily routine
- Quick paced classroom
- Learning, collaborating, having fun, troubleshoot together
- Loves learning and working with kids
Hillary St. George
Education
- Undergraduate degree in Writing from NYU
- Got a her master's in Library Science from UCLA
Daily routine
- Everyday is different: different people with different questions, different programs
- Branch manager: reference service, manages physical branch, enforces rules, makes connection within community
- Enjoys working with others to serve the public