VICE PRESIDENT

• Kelly Ihejiawu: Kelly Ihejiawu is the Director of Family Resource Library and School Services Program at Children’s Health, Children’s Medical Center Dallas.  Kelly has worked in various roles at Children’s Health for the past 18 years.  Prior to working at Children’s Medical Center, she worked as a special educator in Richardson ISD.  Mrs. Ihejiawu is from Tucson, AZ where she started her career in special education in a childcare facility for children with disabilities.  She has served in a variety of roles during her career all geared toward supporting adults and children with special needs.  During her tenure at Children’s Health she became a member of The Association for Education of Children with Medical Needs (AECMN).  Kelly previously served on the board of AECMN as corresponding secretary and worked to develop a newsletter for the organization.  When the organization decided to merge with The Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Education Specialist (APHOES) to become The Hospital Educator and Academic Liaison Association (HEAL), Kelly continued her membership in the organization. She is committed to ensuring the best educational outcomes for all students with medical and mental health needs, as well as advancing the profession.   Kelly has worked in education for over 25 years.  She has an undergraduate degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Arizona, where she also received her MA in Special Education with an emphasis on inclusion.  Kelly is currently apart of Leadership ISD Legislative Voices class of 2020 in Dallas, TX.  Her work in Leadership ISD is focused on racial equity in the public schools.  Kelly’s main interest is working with educators to train them on working with students of varying abilities.

TREASURER

• Courtney Emery: Courtney Emery, M.Ed, NBCT is the School Intervention Specialist in the DanceBlue Kentucky Children’s Hospital Hematology Oncology Clinic in Lexington, KY.  Courtney’s educational background includes a BA in Elementary Education and Special Education. Additionally, she earned a Masters of Education in Educational Leadership and is certified by The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.  She currently serves as the Treasurer of HEAL. She is passionate about helping children reach their fullest potential in and out of the classroom and it would be her honor to continue to serve on the executive board of an organization that shares this passion.  

COMMUNICATION/MEDIA COORDINATOR

• Jodi Krause: Jodi Krause has been with Children’s Hospital Colorado for 11 years beginning as a Clinical Learning Specialist in the Learning Services Department. She expanded her role by becoming an inpatient teacher supporting all major medical units, opened the first classroom on a medical unit at CHCO, and transitioned into the Brain Injury Educational Coordinator role in fall 2017. She joined AECMN and APHOES attending her first conference in 2017. She was so excited to find a tribe in the hospital teaching community and went full speed ahead and hosted the 2018 HEAL conference in Aurora, Colorado.  Jodi has served on the HEAL board as Communications/Media Coordinator for the past two years.

MEMBER AT LARGE

• Meredith Chambers:  I hold a M. Ed in special education from Vanderbilt University. I spent 22 years in public and private schools as a general and special educator, IEP team coordinator, and director of extended school year. Since 2014, I have worked at Boston Children’s Hospital as an education specialist in the Department of Neurology on the neurofibromatosis multidisciplinary team. I collaborate with several departments throughout the hospital and meet with school teams to assist them in understanding neurofibromatosis and advocate for securing  IEPs and 504 Plans which best support our patients. I am on the board of the Special Needs Advocacy Network in MA where we educate and train advocates and empower parents. We hold trainings, seminars and an annual conference and school fair. Through the rich combination of skills and opportunities, I believe I can bring a unique and informative perspective on the clinical challenges of a neurological diagnoses combined with the challenges of successfully working collaboratively with schools across the country to best serve children.

• Kris Frost:  I am a school re-entry coordinator at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital and am responsible for ensuring that our pediatric patients return to school with the tools to be successful. I continue to follow up with our patients and their schools throughout their treatment and into survivorship. I am interested in sitting on the board for HEAL as a Member at Large position. I hope to assist in forming a committee that will allow us to continue to collaborate with each other throughout the year to share our successes and challenges, as well as access professional development opportunities. I am also interested in collaborating with members in ways to address diversity, inclusion, and cultural biases. I think this will assist us in better serving our patients and families while they undergo treatment for cancer and other chronic illnesses.

• Rebeca Grysko:  Dr. Grysko is the School Program Coordinator at Nemours Children’s Hospital (NCH) in Orlando, FL. Dr. Grysko earned her Ph.D. in Reading/Literacy Education from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2019 (B.A. ’11 in Family and Child Studies with a concentration in Elementary Education; M.Ed ’14 in Reading Education). Dr. Grysko is committed to inspiring a hospital-wide focus on improving educational outcomes for all patients at NCH, beginning at birth. She has coordinated the integration of various educational programs and interventions (e.g., READing Paws, NICU Reading Program, and Traveling Library). In partnership with the College of Innovation and Education at UCF, Dr. Grysko also designs teacher preparation programming designed to prepare future teachers for meeting the school-related needs of students with chronic health conditions. Dr. Grysko’s work has been published in top-tier academic journals and she regularly presents her research at international, national, and state conferences.

• Michelle Harvey: Michelle Harvey has been an educator for over 23 years who began her career teaching in the public and private school settings before transitioning to her role as an Educational Specialist at Children’s Health 14 years ago. During her years of service, she has worked hospital wide as a passionate advocate for the educational needs of medically complex pediatric patients. She has developed innovative and unique programming solutions that ensure patients have equal opportunities and access to educational services. Her commitment to teamwork and community outreach led to successful collaborations and partnerships that benefit patients with programming like VGo robotic technology, and STEM education kits specially designed for use in the hospital setting. Michelle has been a member of both the APHOES and AECMN organizations for a collective 10 years. She participated in both the APHOES research committee and the joint APHOES/ AECMN legislative action committee. In 2019, Michelle began serving as a Member At Large on the HEAL Executive Board.

• Sarah Klein:  Sarah serves as an academic coordinator in the school program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In this position, she helps oncology patients and families understand how diagnosis and treatment may affect learning and works with community schools to ensure appropriate supports and services are available when patients return. Previously, she taught 7-12 grade students in the hospital’s school program. Her areas of interest include training and supports for community school teachers and teacher preparedness for working with patients/survivors. When not at work, she can be found playing silly games with her 4-year-olds or adding things to her Amazon cart.

• Kyle Landry:  Kyle Landry is the School Intervention Program Manager at Children’s Wisconsin. Since starting the program in 2015, she has served hundreds of children with pediatric heart disease by conducting comprehensive school assessments in the clinical environment and helping school staff implement interventions within the school setting. Landry has a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education (2010) and a master’s in Cultural Foundations of Community and Education (2018) from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Landry’s previous teaching experience specializing in youth placed at risk for school failure illuminates her belief that every child should have equal access to quality education.

• Jennifer Lindwall: Jennifer Lindwall, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She is passionate about working with youth with significant health needs to promote positive mental health, coping, quality of life, and academic engagement. Dr. Lindwall is currently the lead psychologist at a unique hospital-based school program, working with a multidisciplinary team to create a supportive environment for fostering positive engagement to school and academic success for youth with chronic health issues. In 2019, she began as a HEAL Member at Large, and she would be honored to continue to serve on the HEAL Executive Board in this capacity.

• Benjamin White: I think I bring a genuine curiosity, a big-picture vision, a reflective practice, a connecting spirit and a progressive approach to engagement and leadership. Serving on the HEAL board over the last two years has been a really interesting journey from general board acclimation to fighting legal contract disputes to navigating the devastation of the pandemic to, importantly, leading the exploration of racial justice issues within our own organization. I specialize in the field of mental health, so those skills and experiences have helped immensely through the challenges of this last year. I’m ready to give another year!