FACULTY

School Director & Lead Coach: Marilyn Ackerman

Ms. Ackerman, lead coach and seminar director, has spent most of her life in Colorado. She was born in Boulder and attended schools in Arizona and Tennessee, where she received her MA in Rhetorical Theory. Soon after, she relocated to San Francisco, where she was a television producer and station manager for various local and educational channels, and taught film history and television production for sixteen years. In 1999, she and her family moved back to Colorado, where she continued to teach college communication courses and freelance as a communications consultant and video producer and writer. Ms. Ackerman was recognized as "Innovator of the Year" by the California Community College Consortium for her leadership in the development of the first on-line degree program in the country, and received many producing awards for her documentaries. A self-professed "popular culture anthropologist" and film buff, Ms. Ackerman continues to stay abreast of trends in mass media and is a tireless advocate for public education reform, especially literacy improvement. She lives in Superior, Colorado, with her husband and two teenage sons.

Coach: Marnie Roush

After graduating with a degree in Speech Communications with a Broadcasting Emphasis from Colorado State University and a brief stint in the radio industry, Ms. Roush continued her studies, receiving a teaching license from Metropolitan State University. To quench her thirst for knowledge (or her desire to be a perpetual student), she obtained a Master's degree in Information Technology from the University of Colorado at Denver. She has been working teaching students information literacy and training teachers on the effective use of technology. She is passionate about learning, traveling, the outdoors and keeping up with her two small children.

Melinda Myrick

Ms. Myrick, Buckley School coach, is from Maryland. She received her undergraduate degree in English from Virginia Tech in 1989 and her Masters in Liberal Arts from Johns Hopkins University in 1995, and spent the next few years employed in the corporate training division of MCI Telecommunications in Arlington, Virginia. In 1997, she moved to Colorado where she teaches college-level English composition courses. She loves the outdoor opportunities available in Colorado, and is a popular music fanatic. She lives in Superior with her two daughters, two dogs, two gecko lizards and a chinchilla.

Connie Berry

Ms. Berry was born in Vermillion, South Dakota but has lived most of her life in Morrison, Colorado. She comes from a long line of musicians and loved performing in marching bands and being on the stage. She earned her masters degree in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Colorado and has completed the course work for her doctorate. In her thirty-seven years of teaching, Ms. Berry has received the Value Award for Teamwork, was recognized for her expertise with students with special needs and developed an accelerated math program that consistently placed her students in the top two places in national math competitions. When she isn't traveling with her husband or spending time with her grandchildren, you can find Ms. Berry reading, quilting and playing competitive golf.

Jennifer Gilbert

Ms. Gilbert received her BA in English Writing from the University of Colorado. Her passion for different cultures, people and food led her to travel to six of the seven continents . During her journeys, Jenny lived in Costa Rica, Chile and Australia for months at a time. Deciding to implement all of the wonderful experiences from traveling and living abroad, Jenny pursued a future in teaching. She went on to complete her masters in Education from Regis University. She has developed curriculum at the elementary level and has taught in the public school setting for 6 years. Jenny resides in Colorado and now devotes her time to her two young children.

Suzie Whitson

Ms. Whitson received her undergraduate degree in Communication Disorders from Colorado State University. She continued her studies, receiving a Master's in the same field, with an emphasis in Speech Pathology. After two years of intensive work at National Jewish Center for Respiratory and Immunology Diseases, coaching clients in proper vocal techniques, Ms.Whitson redirected her focus to helping children. She has worked for the Jefferson County Public School system for the past ten years, taking a short hiatus to raise her two young boys.

MEDIA PROFESSIONALS

Ed Sardella

Ed Sardella's career in broadcasting has spanned more than 30 years, 25 as a primary anchor at KUSA in Denver. After college, Ed spent four years in the Marine Corps, and upon completion of his tour of duty, worked at radio stations in Ashland, Tillamook and Eugene, Oregon before moving to television in 1969. He moved to Colorado in 1972 as a news and sports reporter and anchor at KMGH, and joined KBTV (now KUSA) in 1974, where he co-anchored 9News at 10. Ed is a published author and travels the country conducting writing seminars on writing and is a visiting professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He was named Broadcaster of the Year by the Colorado Broadcasters Association in 1997.

Joe McGowan, Jr.

Joe McGowan spent 42 years with the Associated Press as a foreign correspondent and domestic Chief of Bureau. A Wyoming native, he began writing sports at age 13 for small dailies and was editor of a semi-weekly before joining AP. He interviewed Fidel Castro, Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi and Z.A. Bhutto, and traveled internationally twice with President Kennedy. He reported the 1965 war between India and Pakistan, several revolutions in South America, and the 1970 earthquake in Peru which killed 75,000 people. In "retirement" he does news consulting and writes columns for three weekly newspapers in addition to competing in 5K and 10K foot races.