Jasmine Zandi recently graduated from Hendrix College where she studied French and International Development & Sustainability. She has since been working with the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in nutrition education and food sourcing & logistics. Her main project has been identifying barriers to early childcare nutrition education with the end goal of increasing accessibility and implementing more targeted Cooking Matters programming throughout the state.

Terra Aquia is the K12 Programs Coordinator at the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics at the University of Central Arkansas. She received her B.A. in History in 2016 and a Master of Arts in Teaching in 2022. In her role, she works with a variety of scholars to create interdisciplinary social studies educational content for K- 12 teachers & students in Arkansas. Her research focuses on best practices for interdisciplinary teaching and active-learning pedagogy.

Ginsie Higgs joined the Economics Arkansas team in August 2019. As the Project Support Specialist, her duties include maintaining the donor database, overseeing grant applications and reporting, managing special event logistics and assisting with program and development initiatives. Ginsie also contributes to Economics Arkansas’s social media platforms and communication strategies. She wore many hats in her previous position as Discovery Network Assistant Director at the Museum of Discovery. Ginsie was born and raised in North Little Rock, AR and earned a bachelor’s degree from Millsaps College in Jackson, MS, and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management from UA – Little Rock.

Steve Rice serves as the Entrepreneurship Instructor at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and Arts (ASMSA), recognized by The Washington Post, Newsweek, and The Daily Beast among the Top 25 public high schools in the United States.

At ASMSA, Mr. Rice originated an innovative hands-on, student-driven capstone course based on Lean Launchpad: Evidence-based Entrepreneurship, a master’s level course developed at UC-Berkeley and Stanford.

Rice holds a Master of Science degree in Media Management from Arkansas State University and is a member of the Kappa Tau Alpha National Honor Society for journalism and mass communication. He also serves as an instructor for the I-Fund, a virtual startup accelerator for early-stage startups and has guest lectured at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. He has spoken on the integration of innovation and technology at conferences for computer science educators at the state and national levels and is a frequently sought after speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship, technology, and equity.

You can follow him on Twitter @StevenERice or connect on LinkedIn.

Melissa Starkey is the Social Studies Specialist for the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. Prior to her work at DESE, Melissa taught history at Morrilton High School in the South Conway County School District. Her passion for social studies education led to her current role at the Department in August 2018. She is excited to advocate for social studies education, support teachers, and provide professional development opportunities for educators across the state. She holds a B.S.E. in Social Science from Henderson State University, M.S.E. in Teacher Leadership (GT) from UCA, and an Ed.S in Educational Leadership (history) from UCA.

You can reach Melissa by email at melissa.starkey@arkansas.gov or by phone at (501) 682-6584.

Dr. Rita Littrell, a native northwest Arkansan, spent 12 years serving as a teacher, educator of the gifted, and school administrator in Springdale School District where she was recognized 10 times for her outstanding teaching including first place in the nation for exemplary economic education curricula. After completing PhD studies at the University of Kansas and serving as center director at University of Missouri-Kansas City, Rita returned to the University of Arkansas to serve as director of the Bessie B. Moore Center for Economic Education in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. Recent curriculum development topics include economic decisions for college/career success and youth entrepreneurship. Check out her blog or the portal for teaching Arkansas history using Arkansas State Parks developed with her students. The Moore Center specializes in teacher professional development with programs ranging from after-school startup visits to conferences on entrepreneurship education. In her spare time Rita founded the Butterfly Nanny program at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, gardens, cooks and collects international and unique friends! To learn more about Arkansas entrepreneurs and curricula, you can find Dr. Littrell’s blog here: https://wordpressua.uark.edu/startupculture/

Brian Irby is an Archival Assistant at the Arkansas State Archives. He has an MA in history from the University of Central Arkansas and is currently pursuing a Masters in Library Science at the University of North Texas. He lives with his wife, two dogs, and two cats in North Little Rock.

David Nance is the World Languages Specialist at the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. If you have questions or ideas about incorporating languages into your classes, he would be happy to hear from you. You can reach him at david.nance@arkansas.gov.

Jessica Culver teaches Civics, Economics, and concurrent college credit history courses at Ozark High School. Jessica is a 2021-2022 Institute of Peace Teacher, an Economics Arkansas Master Economics Teacher, a member of the iCivics Teacher Network, a member of the Arkansas Jump$tart Board, a Donors Choose Teacher Advocate, a National History Day teacher, and a 2020-2021 Fulbright Teacher for Global Classrooms. She is a previous member of the Bill of Rights Teacher Institute and the Take Charge Today National Master Educator Team. Jessica is also a certified yoga instructor and presenter at various teacher workshops. Jessica can also be found traveling with her family in their tiny camper, riding mountain bikes, reading, or listening to podcasts.

Kris Bertelsen is a senior economic education specialist with the Little Rock Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, where he helps produce economic and personal finance education materials including videos, lesson plans, and online modules. He speaks frequently to a variety of audiences and conducts professional development for educators. Prior to joining the Fed, Kris taught high school social studies in Minnesota. He’s served on various boards and committees including the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) economics assessment writing committee, author and content reviewer for the Council for Economic Education (CEE), and the Arkansas Department of Education Social Studies Standards Revision Committees. He has served as president of the Arkansas Jump$tart Coalition.

Michele Jackson currently teaches Economics and AP Human Geography at Siloam Springs High School in Siloam Springs, AR. She is a Master Economics Teacher with Economics Arkansas and presents at various workshops around the state. She has a Masters in ESL from Henderson State University and serves on the St. Louis Federal Reserve Educational Advisory Board. When she is not teaching, she enjoys spending time travelling with her husband, Tim, of 29 years and two children, Blake and Megan.

Penny Toombs is the director of the Dyess Colony, Johnny Cash’s Boyhood Home & The Southern Tenant Farmers Museum. Before taking the director position in August, she worked in K-12 education for 19 years. Fifteen of those years were as the gifted and talented coordinator at Piggott School District. She has presented on local and state level conferences, along with serving as a board member for Arkansans for Gifted and Talented Education and Arkansas Association for Gifted Education Administrators.

Peter Kelpin is the Director of K-12 Programs for EVERFI in the Southeast. In his current role, he supports School Districts and State Departments of Education in reviewing, aligning and implementing EVERFI resources. Peter is a former 7th Grade Special Education teacher, who is passionate about preparing all learners for the real world.

He currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, and may be reached with any questions at pkelpin@everfi.com.

Mindy Porter is the Director of Education at the Scott Family Amazeum in Bentonville, Arkansas. The Amazeum offers a large variety of programs to Arkansas families and students. For information about the Maker to Market training or any other opportunities, contact Mindy by email at mporter@amazeum.org.

Ruth O’Loughlin is the Site Director for the Lakeport Plantation, an Arkansas State University Heritage Site. She received her B.S. in History from Central Michigan University and M.S. in Education-Library Media and Information from Southern Arkansas University. She enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs in Lake Village.

Lauren is a student worker for the Arkansas Center for Research and Economics. Currently enrolled at the University of Central Arkansas, she is working toward a Bachelor's Degree in Health Sciences. Her future plans include attending graduate school to earn a Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy.

Paul Stolt taught elementary school in California and Bentonville and served as communications director for Bentonville Schools prior to joining the Scott Family Amazeum as marketing manager in 2017. Born and raised in the upper Midwest, Paul moved to the San Francisco Bay Area after graduating from the University of Iowa with degrees in Journalism/Mass Communication and History. He moved to Northwest Arkansas with his wife and two children in 2008.

Will Knauer is a Museum Educator at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Before moving to Arkansas to work at the museum he was involved with youth outreach programs in Greene County Missouri with a focus on bringing arts programming to underserved parts of communities. He currently lives in Bella Vista where he has a chance to create art and music surrounded by nature.

Susie Smyre is a Vice President and Financial Wellness Relationship Manager at Regions Bank. For more information about Regions Financial Wellness programs, reach out by email at FinancialWellness@regions.com.

Mary Clare Peate is the Director of Curriculum at MRU. She currently serves on the National Association of Economic Educators' Executive Committee and on the Journal of Economics Teaching board. Before joining MRU, she held several different education-related roles, including middle school English teacher and math textbook editor. She holds a Master’s degree in education and a Phd in economics.

Meredith Stewart teaches 8th-12th self-contained special education at Ozark Junior High and Ozark High School and is the 2018 DCDT Teacher of the Year for Transition. She also teaches a transition/life skills class for resource and self-contained students. Meredith is the supervisor of the school based enterprise; Cafe Friday. She is also the district coordinator for Special Olympics and was recently appointed the Youth Experience Coach for Arkansas for the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games in Florida in June. She helped start Unified Sports at Ozark and Ozark was appointed the 2021 Unified Champion School of the year.

Meredith enjoys learning and holds several degrees; Bachelors of Science in Early Childhood P-4, Special Education P-12, Dyslexia, Master’s Degree in Education and Curriculum Programming Administration in Special Education.

Meredith Stewart is a 2021 Bessie M. Moore award recipient and the 2018 Ozark Junior High Teacher of the Year. When Meredith is not at school working she enjoys spending time at home with her husband and two small children.

Michele Glasgow is an Executive Administrative Assistant at the Arkansas Bar Association. Contact her at mglasgow@arkbar.com or by phone at 501-801-5661.

Dr. Kathryn Carroll is an Assistant Professor of Family & Consumer Sciences at the University of Central Arkansas. Prior to joining UCA, she received a PhD in Consumer Behavior and Family Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In her research, she uses experiments and survey research to examine questions in the area of consumer decision making. Her work is designed to help address real-world problems, with the goal of providing useful information for individuals, producers, policy makers, retailers, and other stakeholders.