Q2L Team

Elisa Aragon, Executive Director of School

Elisa brings twenty-four years of experience with the New York City Department of Education to her role as Executive Director of School, having received her principal certification in 1997. Originally from Maryland, Elisa moved to “the big city” after her sophomore year at the University of Maryland (Go Terps!) and graduated from City College of New York with a Bachelor of Science degree, Magna cum laude. Elisa started teaching in the New York Public Schools in 1984 at Park West High School and then transitioned to the CMSP Model School, teaching 7th and 8th grade Humanities. She believes that all these teaching experiences prepared her for the extraordinarily challenging work of teaching in the alternative high schools. Teaching the five subjects of the GED she worked in the basement of homeless shelters, working tirelessly to effect the cycle of poverty for the young mothers who were her students, and their babies, who are our future. “I learned the life changing lesson of resilience through watching my students tenaciously grow far beyond societal expectations, and even surpassing their own expectations.”

After obtaining a Master of Science in Education from Hunter College with a 4.0 average, Elisa continued her post-graduate studies at Fordham University, achieving a Professional Diploma in Education and earning her SAS. Elisa continued her work in the alternative high school district in the role of Assistant Principal Administration. For eight year Elisa focused her passion and talents as an instructional leader, supporting and honing the skills of classroom teachers who were teaching the most at-risk population of students in NYC. In June 2008 Elisa was selected to participate in the elite New York City Leadership Academy, the centerpiece of Chancellor Klein’ mission of transformation for our public education system. Elisa provided administrative support during the September 2008 roll out of the innovative NYC iSchool in Soho, a selective 9 – 12 fully integrating 21st century technology in a progressive model of interdisciplinary, real-world, problem-based instruction. Elisa left her administrative position at the highly successful and respected High School of Telecommunication Arts to accept the leadership position as principal with Quest to Learn. Her dynamic leadership style, experience and deep knowledge of instruction make her a perfect fit with the goals and mission of our school. earagon@q2l.org

Katie Salen, Executive Director of Design (Q2L) and Executive Director, Mission Lab
Katie is the Executive Director of the Institute of Play, and Professor in the Design and Technology, Parsons the New School for Design. As the lead institutional partner for Quest to Learn, she has led development of strategic partnerships, including those with Pearson, The New School, and the MacArthur Foundation research network. She has extensive experience working with young people in the area of media creation and game design, and has a deep knowledge of issues surrounding the potential integration of digital media, games, and technology into learning environments, like schools, libraries, and museums. Katie has published three books that have come to serve as seminal in the research field of games and learning: Rules of Play, a textbook on game design, The Game Design Reader, and The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning, all from MIT Press. She has worked as a game designer for over 10 years and is co-editor of The International Journal of Learning and Media. As a leading scholar in the field, Katie is a sought-after thinker and speaker at media, games and learning events nationally and abroad.

She has received over $2.5 million in funding to support her work with the Institute of Play and Q2L in the past 2 years from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Pearson Foundation, and Intel. She has degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the Rhode Island School of Design. Email ksalen@q2l.org

Robert Torres, Executive Director of Research (Q2L) and Chief Research Officer, Mission Lab
For the past two years Robert has served as the coach to the Quest to Learn design team. He recently completed his PhD in games and learning at NYU, focusing on the online game Gamestar Mechanic and its potential to help kids learn systems thinking. A primary concern of Robert's research is understanding children's cognitive development in immersive digital environments. Robert has worked as a teacher, school principal and education consultant since 1988. He taught 5th grade as a Teach for America teacher, served as a school director as part of TFA teacher induction programs and eventually became president of Teach for America’s National Faculty. As a spin-off of TFA, Robert designed and became co-director of The Learning Project One Middle School from 1995 to 1999, a school primarily serving low-income students of the Lower East Side. Since 1999, Robert has focused mostly on school design and currently runs a not for profit, designbydesign.org, which has designed or supported the creation of over 30 small progressive across New York City and Connecticut.

Robert wrote and produced a documentary film on the impact of poverty on his Puerto Rican family in New York. The film, Nuyorican Dream, premiered at the Sundance 2000 Film Festival, was acquired by and aired on HBO, and has won numerous awards in the United States and abroad. The documentary offers observations about the legacy of colonialism, the inadequate American inner-city educational system, and discrimination. Robert has a B.A. from Oberlin College, a Masters in policy and school administration at Bank Street College of Education and was a Stanford University Research Fellow. Email rtorres@q2l.org

Staff BIOS COMING SOON!
Susan Ryan, School Secretary. sryan@q2l.org
Emmanuel Batten, Administrative Assistant. ebatten@q2l.org
Julia Wald, Guidance and Advisory. jwald@q2l.org
Will Moyet, Director of Afterschool/Community programs. wmoyet@q2l.org
Lassina Ouattara, Technologist. louattara@q2l.org

Faculty BIOS COMING SOON!
Al Doyle, Sports for the Mind domain teacher. adoyle@q2l.org
C. Ross Flat, Being, Space and Place domain teacher. rflatt@q2l.org
Lara Gerstein, Wellness domain teacher. lgerstein@q2l.org
Alicia Iannucci, Codeworlds domain teacher. aiannucci@q2l.org
Ameer Mourad, The Way Things Work domain teacher. amourad@q2l.org
Ginger Stevens, Learning Strategist. gstevens@q2l.org

Mission Lab Staff
Rebecca Rufo-Tepper, Co-Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Mission Lab
Rebecca has been working in the New York City public school system for ten years. After receiving a master’s degree in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, she taught high school and middle school English and Social Studies for seven years in Brooklyn and Manhattan. In addition, she was a staff developer at East Side Middle School, a public school in Manhattan, for two years. She is professional development facilitator for the Holocaust Educators Network in New York City and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. Rebecca’s research has focused on professional development and school reform. She has presented her work at national conferences, including NCTE, NMSA, and ISCHE. Recently, Rebecca was an adjunct instructor of English Education in Hunter College's Curriculum and Teaching Department and worked with Pam Grossman at Stanford University on a research project on New York City ELA teachers. Rebecca completed her PhD in Urban Education in May 2009.Email rrufo-tepper@q2l.org

Arana Shapiro, Co-Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Mission Lab
Arana has been working in the field of education for ten years. Her first teaching position was in the Inglewood Public School District, where she taught for three years. In Inglewood, Arana served on the district curriculum review team, helping to develop and implement new curriculum in this small district. Upon moving to New York City, Arana began working at Teachers College, Columbia University’s Early Childhood Education Program. At TC, Arana helped develop the Early Childhood Education department’s new student teacher program by visiting New York City public school classrooms and finding appropriate placement and mentorship for TC students. It was during her work at Teachers College when Arana began working with a group of educators to develop curriculum for a new school, The School at Columbia University and subsequently became a founding faculty member of The School in 2003. Arana's desire to bring new media technologies into the classroom prompted her to migrate from the classroom to the technology team at The School and later to the Lead Educational Technologist position at the Ross Institute, where she integrated technology into K-12 classrooms at both The Ross School in East Hampton and Ross Global Academy Charter School. In addition, Arana was a reading specialist for Groundwork for Youth in East New York Public Schools. She has presented research at many national education conferences, including AERA and NCTM. She received her Masters of Arts in Education with an emphasis in Second Language Learning and Acquisition from Pepperdine University, and did coursework in TC’s Communication and Education program.Email ashapiro@q2l.org

Leah Gilliam, Director of Projects, Mission Lab
Leah Gilliam comes to Q2L after a rich history of teaching, developing academic programs, and designing user experiences using both analog and digital media. Until she left to pursue her love of game design in 2006, Leah was an associate professor of Electronic Arts at Bard College as well as the chair of the Arts Division. A 2008 graduate of NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, Leah's recent projects include Lesberation, a board game of territory capture and tile placement inspired by the rebellious beginnings of the gay-rights movement; ID, a game of identity theft in which players compete to stockpile and represent complex minority identities; and Metrophile, a big game that transforms the NYC subway system into a playing field. Email lgilliam@q2l.org

Susie Greenebaum, Wellness Specialist, Mission Lab
Susie Greenebaum (LMSW, MS Ed) brings together her work as a teacher, staff developer, school designer, social worker, and family therapist in her work as the Wellness Specialist at Q2L. She began her career as a teacher in New York City public schools, and after ten years of working in different capacities in the school system, she decided that she wanted to bring a different perspective to her work. After earning her Social Work degree, she returned to education with a new lens. In her charge to develop the Wellness program at Q2L, she infuses her knowledge of curriculum and teaching with her training in looking at human systems and how they function. She has consulted previously with Harvard University’s Project Zero, New Visions for Public Schools, and the New York City Department of Education. Currently she is an Adjunct Professor at Baruch College in the field of Educational Leadership and maintains a private practice as a psychotherapist. Susie received her Masters in Education from Bank Street College of Education and her Masters in Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work. She is currently in psychoanalytic training at the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center in downtown Manhattan. Email sgreenebaum@q2l.org

Tracy Gromek: Game and Curriculum Designer, Mission Lab
Tracy Gromek draws from her wide-ranging experience as an artist, designer and teacher to create innovative games for the Institute of Play. Tracy holds an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons, The New School for Design, and a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Before leaving to pursue her master’s, Tracy worked as an exhibition designer for the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo creating and designing exhibits such as Madagascar! and Butterfly Garden. She has also animated for Disney, Hasbro and PBS, and developed and taught ESL curriculum for ages 3 to 17 in Spain and China. When she's not at the Institute of Play, Tracy creates interactive games using physical elements and computer vision for television and museums through her company, Electronic Bohemia, and develops new projects for Freedom in Interactive Wearable Art (FiiWA), her line of sporting equipment for individuals with visual and/or physical impairments. Email tgromek@q2l.org

Radhika Tandon, Game and Curriculum Designer, Mission Lab
Radhika Tandon holds an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons, The New School for Design. Her thesis game ‘Panchatantra’, which is a combination of a board game and a website aimed at educating kids on the Panchatantra tales from India, was exhibited at the Games 4 Change Annual Conference Expo in 2006. She has also collaborated with other designers in creating fun games such as ‘Fowl Frenzy’, which won an award for Best Visual Design at Mobile Game Mosh: a 24-hour Game Design Jam. Radhika is interested in designing new gameplay experiences that enhance learning through play. Her past work experience in design and development of interactive online media coupled with her current interest in the areas of games and learning has led her to work on a variety of projects at Scholastic, Global Kids and Institute of Play. She has designed an interactive web tool at Scholastic. She has taught game design to high school students in the Global Kids after school gaming program. At Institute of Play she works on a variety of design and research related projects. Email rtandon@q2l.org

Chloe Varelidi, Game and Curriculum Designer, Mission Lab
Chloe Varelidi designs games, spaces and narratives for cities, plants, animals, far away lands, children and grown ups. These designs take the form of multimedia pieces that vary from household robots to installation art to games. Chloe has a background in Architecture and Engineering and also holds an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons, The New School for Design. Since 2007, she has been part of the Institute of Play team, working with youth and developing innovative tools that embrace game design as an agent of learning and change. In her free time she works in her own studio, in Brooklyn. As a member of various collectives she has designed games for the Solar One Festival, the Philip Johnson Glasshouse Organization, and has exhibited in the 2008 Shenzhen / Hong Kong Biennial of Architecture & Urbanism, the 2nd Annual Exhibition of Art and Science in Beijing, the 5th Pan-Hellenic Architectural Exhibition, the 2005 New Trends in Architecture in Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific and the 2005 International Biennale, in Florence. Email cvrelidi@q2l.org

Evonne Tsang, Director of Business, Mission Lab
As Director of Administration, Evonne handles everything from human resources and bookkeeping to research and event planning. She has worked in Human Resources for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Barnes & Noble College Bookstores. As a native New Yorker fortunate enough to have attended some great public schools, she is very excited about taking part in developing innovative public education experiences for others. She has a B.A. in English with a minor in Creative Writing from NYU. She has written an interactive children's book combining prose and comic book pages that is scheduled for publication in Fall 2009. She is an avid practitioner of Google-fu and thinks wearing jeans to work is pretty keen.

Loretta Wolozin, Assessment Researcher, Mission Lab
Loretta teaches and coordinates the Research and Writing curriculum for the MFA Design and Technology at Parsons The New School for Design. At Parsons, Loretta co-founded Lime Learning Lab (2002-2004), dedicated to K-12 classroom-based research of learning-media projects. Forging a partnership with The College of New Jersey’s Early & Elementary Teacher Education program, Loretta launched and participated in classroom testing of the prototype, Kinderboard on Kindertable, in two New Jersey schools with divergent demographics. Loretta’s publications include Look Duck Feet: Kinderboard on Kindertable (The Prototype) Goes to Classrooms and Literacy Inventory Protocol (LIP): Pedagogical Tool for Iterative Prototype Design. Prior to joining Parsons, Loretta put her Permanent Secondary Teacher’s Credential to work as Education Editor for 25+ years at Houghton Mifflin Publishing Company (Boston). Loretta has deep knowledge of contemporary research on learning and has worked closely with leading learning scientists, such as Rich Lehrer (Vanderbilt: mathematical and science reasoning); Bruce VanSledright (U Maryland; historical investigations in classrooms); and James. E. Ysseldyke (University of Minnesota, preeminent expert on adaptive assessment for children with disabilities.) She holds an MFA in Design & Technology (Parsons School of Design), an M.A.T. in English Education, B.A. in English Literature (The University of Santa Clara), and a Permanent California Standard Secondary Teacher’s Credential (English/History). Email lwolozin@q2l.org