Our Board - New York State English Council

NYSEC Executive Board

Michelle Bulla
Website Coordinator
SED Liaison
Blog Column Writer & Editor

Michelle G. Bulla's Bio

Michelle G. Bulla is a 20+ year high school English teacher at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Orange County, where she also serves as 9-12 English Department Chair. She is on the Executive Board for the New York State English Council (NYSEC), serves on the NYSED English Language Arts Content Advisory Panel, and worked on the new revision of the state standards.

Lawrence Butti
NCTE Liaison

Stephanie Del Valle
Treasurer

Christine Furnia
Editor of NYSEC Newsletter
Vendor Liaison

Christine Furnia's Bio

Christine Furnia has been a secondary English/ELA teacher for 24 years, teaching every grade 7-12 at some point, except 9th. She received her undergraduate degree in English from Manhattanville College, and her Master’s of Science in Curriculum from Western Connecticut State University. Currently, she is the Teacher in Charge of the ELA Department at Van Wyck Junior High School in the Wappingers district where she teaches 7th and 8th grade. In 2012, Christine received her National Board Certification, and strives to continue to grow professionally, particularly in the area of technology integration. She became a member of the NYSEC Executive Board in 2016 where she serves as the assistant editor to the NYSEC News newsletter. Christine loves to travel with her four high school and college-aged daughters, and most recently visited Thailand and Japan.

Joann Hili-Carbone
Membership Chair

Dakota Inman

Dakota Inman's Bio

Dakota Inman is a 2017 SUNY Oneonta graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Adolescent Education and English. He is currently an 8th grade English teacher at Oneonta Middle School as he works on his Master’s program in Special Education at SUNY Oneonta. Inman was welcomed onto the NYSEC Executive Board as a student liaison in spring of 2016. An aspiring Adirondack 46er, he is an avid environmental reader with a special interest in Henry David Thoreau.

Victor Jaccarino
VP Administration

Louisa Kramer-Vida
VP College

Louisa Kramer-Vida's Bio

Louisa Kramer-Vida, Ed. D. received her doctorate from Hofstra University in Literacy and Educational Administration. Louisa also has a P.D. in Literacy, a C.A.S. in Educational Administration, an M.A. in Literacy and a B.A. in English and History. Louisa retired from Pre-K- 12 education. She was an elementary classroom teacher, a high school English teacher, a K-12 literacy specialist, and had a variety of building and district office administrative positions, mostly in the areas of curriculum/instruction and personnel. Louisa adjuncted for many years and after “retirement” she became a full time professor of literacy. Louisa was promoted to Chair of the Department of Special Education and Literacy, held a stint as Acting Dean, and is now the Associate Dean of LIU Post’s College of Education and Information Technology. Louisa has published 39 peer and non-peer reviewed articles in such publications as Language Arts and The Language and Literacy Spectrum, and has presented approximately 109 times on the international, national, regional, state, and local levels. Louisa has served on the NYSEC Board in many capacities, twice as President, and has been the treasurer of LILAC (the Long Island Language Arts Council, a NYSEC affiliate) for over 15 years.

Michael Laterza
VP Middle
Historian

Michael Laterza's Bio

Michael Laterza is in his thirteenth year of being a secondary English teacher in Westchester County, NY, with experience teaching several levels of instruction from grade 8 to grade 12. As a native of New York City, he has had the pleasure of teaching in urban and suburban schools, both public and private. Michael has a BA in English from Manhattan College, a master’s degree in adolescent education from Iona College, and an advanced certificate in gifted & talented education from SUNY Buffalo. As a doctoral student in Murray State University’s English Pedagogy program, Michael is studying advanced coursework in the content areas of English and literacy within a framework of pedagogical theory and reflection. He currently teaches English 10, English 10 Honors, and Introduction to Philosophy. In addition to his teaching duties, Michael also serves on the executive board of the New York State English Council as a representative for the lower Hudson Valley region. In his free time, Michael enjoys vacationing at the Jersey shore with his Doberman Pinscher, Remy, as well as organizing field trips to Europe and Asia with his students.

Janet Matthews
Friends of Excellence
Coordinator

Rachel Murray
Business Secretary

Marilyn Norton
VP Secondary
Board Member

Paul O’Brien
Board Member

Paul O’Brien's Bio

Paul O’Brien, educated at Iona College, Catholic University of America, and the State University of New York at Albany, taught English for forty-seven years at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady. Since leaving the classroom, he has remained active on a number of boards including the NYSEC Executive Board, where he was selected as a Fellow in 2013. He also serves on the Curriculum Committee of the Union College Academy for Lifelong Learning. Since retiring, he has written two books: Voices from Room 6, a memoir of his teaching years, and Keys on the Road, a memoir of life in a small town. His hobbies include reading, traveling, and meeting friends at local diners for good conversation. He lives in Niskayuna, New York, with his wife Deborah, an attorney, and CT, the wonder cat.

Michelle Peterson
President-Elect
VP Elementary
Social Media Coordinator

Patti Rand

Sara A.Taveniere
President

Sara A. Taveniere's Bio

Sara A. Taveniere is currently an 8th Grade English teacher at Stissing Mountain Junior-Senior High School in Dutchess County, where she also spent many years of her career as the head coach for the girls varsity soccer team. She has enjoyed being a part of many building and district-level committees, while also serving as an advisor to a variety of extra-curricular activities for her students. Sara is an avid reader who loves to travel in her free time, especially to the beach. She is a member of the Executive Board for the New York State English Council. She holds an undergraduate degree from SUNY Oneonta in Adolescence Education and English and a Master’s Degree in Literacy Education from SUNY New Paltz. She recently completed a program in Educational Leadership at Stony Brook University.

Dan Tusa
Recording Secretary

Lou Ventura
Editor, The English Record

Lou Ventura's Bio

Lou Ventura has been a secondary school English teacher since 1986. He taught at Canterbury School in New Milford, CT from 1986-1993 (and served as Canterbury’s English Department Chair from 1990-1993), at Bolivar-Richburg in Bolivar, NY from 1993-2002, and has taught at Olean High School in Olean, NY from 2002 to the present. Lou is an Executive Board member of the New York State English Council (NYSEC) and is editor of NYSEC’s journal The English Record.

Sally Ventura
Past President
The English Record
Associate Editor

Sally Ventura's Bio

Sally Ventura earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English at St. Bonaventure University and SUNY Albany, respectively. She currently teaches eleventh grade English classes and a College Connections composition course at Olean High School in New York’s Southern Tier. She is associate editor of The English Record. Her favorite authors are Marilynne Robinson, Luis Urrea, Charles Dickens and Cormac McCarthy.

Chereith Vincent
2019 Conference Chair
Awards Co-Coordinator

Chereith (CJ) Vincent's Bio

Chereith (CJ) Vincent is presently a high school English teacher at Broadalbin-Perth CSD in upstate New York. She is both a co-advisor to the Class of 2019 and to the school’s first Alliance Club. CJ achieved her Bachelor’s degree at SUNY Oneonta, dual majoring in Adolescent Education and English. After graduating, CJ interned at SUNY as a research assistant to Dr. Nancy Zimpher’s husband, Dr. Kenneth Howey. During this time, she attended and graduated from the University at Albany with a Master’s in Educational Theory and Practice of English. CJ has also been an active member of NYSEC and the Executive Board since 2012, where she has fulfilled many different roles. She currently resides in Saratoga Springs, NY, where she lives with her loving boyfriend and 90lb rescue pitbull. CJ’s also an avid Duke basketball fan and cheers for the Red Sox.

Christine Zandstra
Awards Coordinator, Teacher Consultant for the Hudson Valley Writing Project

Christine Zandstra's Bio

Christine Zandstra teaches 9th grade English at Roy C. Ketcham High School in Wappingers Falls, NY. She holds a B.A. in English from Old Dominion University and an M.S. in Secondary Education from Mount Saint Mary College and is National Board Certified. She has taught for 15 years and has experience at the junior high, high school and college levels. She is also a Teacher Consultant for the Hudson Valley Writing Project.

Executive Board Members by Region

Central Region
Dakota Inman

Hudson Valley Region
Michelle Bulla
Christine Furnia
Janet Matthews
Paul O’Brien
Christine Zandstra
Chereith Vincent
Marilyn Norton
Sara Taveniere
Michael Laterza

Long Island Region
Lawrence Butti
Joann Hili-Carbone
Victor Jaccarino
Louisa Kramer-Vida
Michelle Peterson

New York City Region
Stephanie DelValle

North Country Region
Dan Tusa

Western Region
Sally Ventura
Lou Ventura