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.

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.