About the Advisory Board
Diana M Bayona (she/her) is a Colombian native who lives in Tulsa. She climbed the education ladder by entering the education field as an EL aide, moving into the classroom to teach first, second and Kindergarten, to be an EL Instructional Coach for elementary schools the last 6 years and this year moving her coaching skills to High School. She is an LLCE PhD candidate at OSU.
Henry “Cody” Miller is an associate professor of English education at SUNY Brockport. Prior to that role, he taught high school English in Florida for seven years.
Akira Park (she/her/siya) is an English Secondary Education major and a McNair Scholar at Washington State University. Her research interests include culturally sustaining pedagogy and BIPOC representation in young adult literature with a focus on Asian American narratives.
Sidra Zaheer is a second-year PhD student in Language, Literacy, and Culture at Oklahoma State University. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, she teaches the undergraduate course “American Stories: Diverse Peoples in YA Literature.” Sidra’s background includes experience as an ESL and IELTS instructor, as well as teaching secondary students. Her research interests focus on innovative English language instruction, technology integration,and diversity in young adult literature. Sidra has presented at conferences on topics such as digital storytelling and gender representation in YA literature.
Lauren Vandever has been teaching middle school Reading and English for over 10 years. She has a Master’s degree in Reading and Literacy instruction and is currently serving as an instructional coach in her district while pursuing a doctorate.
Laura Swigart (she/her) is a secondary educator in Oklahoma City, OK, and a Master’s student at Oklahoma State University. She has taught for 8 years, and has served as an Instructional Coach and Professional Development leader, focusing on literacy strategies in content classrooms, and culturally sustaining pedagogy.
Robin Pelletier is a secondary educator in Las Vegas, Nevada where she’s taught ELA for 9 years. Since 2019, she has been a professional reader for NetGalley. She has worked for Barnes and Noble for the past 3 years. She participates in many book studies, professional development trainings, and conferences, presenting annually at the Summit for the Research and Teaching of Young Adult literature with her students.
