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Matthew Swoveland is an educator at Roca, an organization that works with very high risk young people in Chelsea, Mass. He is passionate about education as a key element in the reintegration of young people after gang involvement and incarceration. He has taught everything from classical Greek tragedy to a history of cheese in the western world. Above all, he believes in the power of relationships to transform the ways we process information, build meaning, and relate with others.

Gregg Barrios taught in the Crystal City schools for 10 years. Since then he has been a successful journalist for the Los Angeles Times and more recently was book editor of the San Antonio Express-News. He is now a full-time playwright.

Mary is a fourth-grade teacher in Salem, Oregon. Each day she leaves the classroom with pockets full of intercepted notes and gratitude for the opportunity to learn with a roomful of 9-year-olds.

Vanessa D'Egidio is a seventh-grade humanities teacher in New York City. This is her eighth year of teaching but her first year as a middle school educator, having moved into a new role after teaching second grade for the past five years. Vanessa brings to the classroom a passion for education that empowers, validates, connects and inspires critical thinking and positive social action. She is a former member of the Teaching Tolerance advisory board and contributor to TT's Perspectives for a Diverse America curriculum. Vanessa enjoys designing and leading workshops around issues related to

Charles Suhor is former deputy executive director and anti-censorship field representative for the National Council of Teachers of English.

Kelly Chandler, a former English and social studies teacher, is pursuing her doctorate in literacy at the University of Maine.

Maya is a writer/associate editor for Teaching Tolerance. She previously worked as a writer for the Choices Program at Brown University.

While attending school full-time, Jessica teaches undergraduate classes and facilitates pre-service teachers' field-experience work in local public schools. She frequently presents at conferences and is conducting an ongoing research project with a high school social studies teacher. Kobe is also a teacher consultant for the Red Clay Writing Project (a local branch of the National Writing Project).

Ann Lindsey is a curriculum integrator for Jackson Middle School, a science and math specialty school in the Anoka Hennepin district in Minnesota. She is currently on sabbatical, living in Kolkata, West Bengal, India focusing on international collaboration and inquiry-based learning with secondary students in several countries. She represents the Urban Sites Project as a teaching consultant with the Minnesota Writing Project and finds every way possible to travel whenever she can.