Professional and Graduate Faculty

Kathryn Accurso is an applied linguist and former ESL teacher who now works in teacher education. Her award-winning research and teaching focus on critical professional development for K-12 teachers to support them in developing more effective and equitable teaching practices around 21st-century disciplinary literacies.

Gwen Bass is the Director of the Master of Arts in Teacher Leadership program. She holds a PhD in Special Education from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, an M.Ed. in School Counseling, and an M.A. in Sport Management. Her professional experience includes 10 years of teaching in PreK–12 special education and general education settings, primarily in roles that involve the intersection of mental health and learning.

Amy Chang began her career in education as an elementary classroom teacher in grades 3 & 4 in Amherst, Massachusetts in 2000.  For the past seven years, Chang has served as the building math coach at Fort River Elementary School in Amherst, working with teachers K-6 to improve math instruction through practices that support early numeracy, differentiation, and student reasoning. She became a Math Recovery Champion in 2016 and was awarded Excellence Grants from the Amherst Education Foundation in 2016 and 2017 to train K-12 teachers in Math Recovery in the Amherst Regional School District.

Sarah Frenette is an early childhood educator, and a teacher educator. She serves as the Director of Early Childhood and Elementary Teacher Education and is the Coordinator of Teacher Licensure for Five Colleges, Inc. She takes pride in working with pre-service teachers that aspire to teach learners of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in literacy, inclusion, curriculum design and reflective practice. Frenette is also the track chair for the Education Policy and Practice Nexus. She learns something new about teaching and learning, and about herself each day.

Holly Innes Graham has presented for multiple national conferences, including American Speech and Language Association (ASHLA), American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL), and the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE). Graham has also been invited to speak to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as teachers, at various colleges and universities, including Mount Holyoke, where she currently teaches language and literacy courses to M.A.T. students..

Alicia Lopez is a lecturer in the ESL Licensure program in the Professional and Graduate Education program at Mount Holyoke College. She also teaches ELL at Amherst Regional Middle School. Her 23 years in the classroom span 2 states and 3 subjects (French, Spanish, ESL).  Alicia is the co-author with Sonia Nieto of the book Teaching: A Life’s Work, a mother-daughter dialogue (forthcoming, Teacher’s College Press).

Jen Matos is a licensed high school teacher and an educational researcher. Her research is focused on racial identities in classroom settings. She is currently working with students on two different research projects. In the first project, she and her research team are examining Latinx parental resiliency in public school systems. In the second project, they are looking at best practices for the retention and graduation of Black and Latinx students in college. Having had experience as a first-generation college student, Matos welcomes students who want to talk about their own experiences.

Lauren Mattone has been an educator for over 30 years.  Since graduating from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in English, she has worked in private early childhood education, as well as the public schools.  In addition to currently teaching Math Science and Technology for the M.A.T. program, she continues to teach elementary education in the public schools.

Lyndsey Nunes, Ph.D., BCBA, has served as the Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment Initiative Program Director at Westfield State University since 2013. Nunes has 10 years of experience working with students with disabilities between the ages of 8-22. She has worked in a variety of settings such as public schools, private substantially separate schools, home based programs, and inclusive postsecondary education.

Catherine Swift, Director of the Graduate Licensure Program, has been in the field of education for over 25 years with a focus on Teacher Education. Initially an elementary classroom teacher, Swift became a visiting lecturer and program supervisor at Smith College before moving to Mount Holyoke College in 2013. Swift’s research and interests include co-teaching, social justice and equity, reflective practice, and using children’s literature to teach mindfulness and social emotional skills.

Nicole Walsh is a Lecturer for the Master of Arts in Teaching Licensure program at Mount Holyoke College. Walsh has nearly twenty years of experience as an educator and has taught for the Montclair State University Gifted and Talented Program, Elysian Charter School, Sussex County Community College, and East Orange Community Charter School among others.

Mike Flynn is the Director of Math Programs in the Professional and Graduate Education Division. In this capacity he runs the Master of Arts in Teaching Mathematics program, oversees all the programming for the department, and develops new innovative ways to make the work of Mathematics Leadership Programs more accessible to teachers.

Sarah Bent is the Assistant Director of Math Programs in the Professional and Graduate Education Division. In this capacity, she oversees the Master of Arts in Teaching Mathematics program and supports the professional learning programs for K-8 math teachers locally and nationally. Prior to working at Mount Holyoke, Sarah was a fourth-grade teacher at the New Hingham Regional Elementary School in Chesterfield, where she integrated technology and created engaging math lessons in which students could then construct arguments, share ideas, listen to each other and reason, toward the goals of becoming life-long problem solvers and confident mathematicians.

Jim Hanson is currently a Middle School Math Coach for Westfield Public Schools. He coaches sixth through eighth grade math teachers at both North and South Middle School.  His coaching responsibilities include co-teaching and co-planning rigorous lessons, as well as leading math department meetings and providing regular, in-district professional development.

Deborah Schifter is a principal research scientist at the Education Development Center, Waltham, MA.  She has worked as an applied mathematician; has taught elementary, secondary, and college level mathematics; and, since 1985, has been a mathematics teacher educator and educational researcher.

Karen Schweitzer, a teacher for 33 years, spent most of her career as a kindergarten, first and second grade classroom teacher. After a brief foray into sixth and fifth grade, she has now settled in as a third grade teacher at the Anne T. Dunphy School, where she has taught for the past 26 years.

Jan Szymaszek is a third grade teacher at the Smith College Campus School in Northampton, Massachusetts, which is the laboratory school for the Smith College Department of Education and Child Study.

Polly Wagner has worked at Mount Holyoke College since 2006 facilitating Developing Mathematical Ideas and Professional Development for Coaching Mathematics courses – both online and hybrid – and most recently is launching a Professional Learning Community for math coaches. Wagner became a math coach and consultant after working on an NFS funded project called Teaching to the Big Ideas. She works in a wide range of schools across Massachusetts, private and public, urban and rural, small and large, specializing in K-8 mathematics.

Analisa Leonor Balares is CEO & Chief Innovation Officer of Womensphere, and Chair of the Womensphere Foundation. Womensphere is a global platform empowering women and girls to create the future (www.womensphere.org). She leads the Womensphere Innovation Leadership Lab (WILL) and Womensphere Incubator Network (WIN), being built globally to inspire, train and empower 1 million women and girls by 2020 (1 billion by 2030) in leadership, innovation, sustainability, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts & design, mathematics).

Through partnerships with various campus constituencies and community organizations, Angelica Castro helps students get connected and raise awareness and funds through events, volunteer projects and community engagement opportunities throughout the Pioneer Valley, including Holyoke, Springfield, South Hadley and Amherst.

Following a blended career of business, social action and academia, Rick Feldman continues to span and integrate the arenas of industry and regional economics, start-up and social enterprise entrepreneurship, education, and policy development in local and global arenas. His current focus is on all aspects of entrepreneurship and social enterprise development, and his current course offerings reflect this range and integration, by focusing on global and local challenges from which opportunities for solutions can emerge through innovation and entrepreneurial leadership.

Janelle serves as a research consultant for the Department of Psychology and Education.  As part of this role, she provides both qualitative and quantitative research support to honors projects and co-teaches the Seminar in Psychological Research.  Additionally, she serves as the SONA Administrator and is responsible for advertising student and faculty research on campus.  Lastly, she is the course manager for Introduction to Psychology.  Her research interests include studying how various social identities such as race and social class shape students’ experiences attending Mount Holyoke College. 

Nicole Gilbert Cote teaches three sections of the Research Methods labs and provides behind-the-scenes support for Statistics. She also teaches summer courses through PaGE, including Introduction to Psychology and Social Psychology.  Gilbert Cote is a social psychologist by training and her early research focused on gender stereotypes and construction.  While working as a Research Associate with Dr. Kathy Binder, she studied literacy skills among children and adults learning to read.

Holly Innes Graham has presented for multiple national conferences, including American Speech and Language Association (ASHLA), American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL), and the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE). Graham has also been invited to speak to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as teachers, at various colleges and universities, including Mount Holyoke, where she currently teaches language and literacy courses to M.A.T. students..

Darren Hamilton and his students use the tools of synthetic organic chemistry to prepare molecular systems with designed properties or functions. These molecular systems can bind and transport, or bind and recognize, a species of interest. Current projects involve the preparation of transport systems for metal ions employed in medical imaging techniques, as well as the development of a prototype molecular construct for carbohydrate recognition. Hamilton's research with undergraduate students has been published most recently in the Journal of Organic Chemistry, Crystal Growth and Design, and the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Jim Hanson is currently a Middle School Math Coach for Westfield Public Schools. He coaches sixth through eighth grade math teachers at both North and South Middle School.  His coaching responsibilities include co-teaching and co-planning rigorous lessons, as well as leading math department meetings and providing regular, in-district professional development.

Himali Jayathilake joined the MHC Chemistry Department in Fall 2008 after receiving her Ph.D. in physical chemistry. She has taught courses and associated laboratory components in both general chemistry and physical chemistry. In addition to teaching, Jayathilake enjoys performing research with students on synthesis, characterization and assembly of metal nano-particles.

Cheryl Lavigne's primary interests in the area of psychology involve the processes of learning – particularly as these processes pertain to literacy development. In addition, she is passionate about scientific investigation and research methodology. From the planning and development phases to data analysis and presentation, scientific research inspires, stimulates, and motivates her career. Lavigne's teaching philosophy combines her passion for research with in-depth classroom discussions and hands-on activities that, hopefully, demystify scientific investigation.

Jennifer Moulton Proctor is a web strategist and designer who has focused her career in the non-profit and education realms. With twenty years experience in the field, she excels at teaching technology in a non-threatening way to all levels of learners.

Gary Snyder's research focuses on the synthesis and spectroscopic detection of new molecules. Several years ago, in collaboration with Jakob Wirz (Univ. Basel), Snyder and a former Univ. of Chicago graduate student, Dan McMasters, succeeded in making the only known Kekulé biradical. By using a new ab initio computational method, RASSCF-RASPT2, Snyder has since identified several other small hydrocarbons that should also leave two π-electrons unpaired and prefer to exist in a paramagnetic form.

Noah Tuleja serves as the Director of Rooke Theatre and teaches courses in acting, directing, physical theater and stage combat. His research interests include integrated actor training, directing, stage combat and the Feldenkrais Method (for which he is a Certified Practicioner). He has worked with nationally and internationally recognized theaters including, Trinity Repertory Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Royal Plymouth-UK and Bread and Puppet Theatre. He is also the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Trembling Stage, a New England based theater company.

Nickie Michaud Wild conducts research on narratives in the media about popular culture, fandom, politics and political humor, culture, moral panics, conspiracy theories, and 9/11. She is currently developing her dissertation about the evolution of political humor on television, during the presidential elections from 1980 to the present, into a book. Michaud Wild has taught a number of popular interdisciplinary courses including 9/11 and the War on Terror, and Cults, Conspiracies, and Moral Panics.

David Bosso is the 2012 Connecticut Teacher of the Year and 2012 National Secondary Social Studies Teacher of the Year. Bosso was co-chair of Connecticut’s 2015 Empowered to Lead Symposium, and was elected President of the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies. He was a 2014 fellow at the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes and provided instruction in educational methodology for forty Rwandan educators in the Rwanda Teacher Education Program. Bosso’s dissertation, focusing on teacher morale, motivation, and professional identity, is a qualitative study of State Teachers of the Year.

Jemelleh Coes is pursuing her Ph.D. in Educational Theory and Practice with certificates in law and policy, disability studies, and qualitative research at the University of Georgia. She is a classroom and field instructor for teacher candidates at the University of Georgia, and she also serves as a teacher mentor for classroom teachers throughout the state.

Kim Evelti is the Curriculum Director and a Computer Science teacher for The Williston Northampton School. During her ten years at Williston, Evelti has been responsible for initiating and implementing the school’s 1:1 computing initiative with the Microsoft Surface, earning herself a position among Microsoft’s Innovative Education Expert and Surface Expert teams. She has also lead the school’s faculty through its strategic planning processes and a variety of other strategic administrative initiatives.

Nancy Gardner is a renewed National Board Certified Teacher with 32 years of classroom teaching experience and an MA in English. A former Center for Teaching Quality Teacherpreneur, she joined the CTQ staff for 18 months as a Communications Coach after her retirement from full time teaching. Gardner has been a national facilitator, consultant, and keynote speaker for the Senior Project Center since 1992.

John Holland is an embedded practitioner and frequent guest lecturer with the Mount Holyoke Masters of Arts in Teacher Leadership program. Holland has dedicated has career to serving his community's neediest and youngest school children as a preschool teacher of 3- and 4-year-olds from Richmond, Virginia’s toughest neighborhoods. John supports the M.A.T.L. program with his expertise in teacher-led innovation, coaching for equity, research, education policy, and the foundations of education.

Greg Martin began teaching as a triple threat educator (teacher, coach, dorm parent) in 1996 at Rumsey Hall School in Connecticut. He then held positions at the Gunnery (Washington Connecticut), Western Connecticut State University, and Porter-Gaud School (Charleston, South Carolina). Martin currently serves as the Dean of Upper School and History Department Head at the Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania.

Jen Matos is a licensed high school teacher and an educational researcher. Her research is focused on racial identities in classroom settings. She is currently working with students on two different research projects. In the first project, she and her research team are examining Latinx parental resiliency in public school systems. In the second project, they are looking at best practices for the retention and graduation of Black and Latinx students in college. Having had experience as a first-generation college student, Matos welcomes students who want to talk about their own experiences.

Sarah Brown Wessling is a 20-year veteran of the high school English classroom. While a member of the faculty at Johnston High School in Johnston, Iowa she has taught courses ranging from at-risk to Advanced Placement and has served the department and district in a variety of leadership roles. Wessling is a National Board Certified Teacher since 2005 and in 2010 was selected as the National Teacher of the Year.