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The Team
Who We Are
Heather Rich
Heather is a Lower School PYP Coordinator and Instructional Coach at The International School fo Azerbaijan. Previously she was an Instructional Coach for Science K-12, and has taught elementary aged kids in multiple international schools and New York City public schools. Heather is trained in NGSS implementation, curriculum design, and leadings its pedagogical shifts with K-12 teachers. Her current focus is using standards to structure conceptually-based units that promote action and international-mindedness. She is an advocate for equitable science learning at all grade levels and believes science is where students can show the learning that transfers.
Britta McCarthy
Britta McCarthy is currently the Director of learning at the American International School of Jeddah. She is a former secondary science teacher who has taught in the United States, Bolivia, and Colombia, eventually becoming a K-12 NGSS coach. Britta believes that high fidelity NGSS implementation creates equitable and engaging learning for students, and inroads to authentic sustainability work in school communities. She loves to look at how phenomena-driven inquiry can work with project-based learning, service learning, advanced coursework options, and transdisciplinary units or programs.
John Mark Filcik
John Mark is one of the co-founders of NGSS Partnership. He has taught secondary science from grades 6 - 12, both in American public schools and international schools in Latin America. Most recently, he was the K-12 NGSS Lead at Colegio Nueva Granada in Bogota, Colombia. He began his career working for Teach for America and is passionate about teaching science in a way that is equitable for all.