The following candidates have been recommended for election to the AMLE Board of Trustees by the AMLE Elections Committee:

Katie Johnson – Virginia

Katie is the proud principal of Belmont Ridge Middle School in Leesburg, Virginia where, under her leadership, the school has been recognized as an inaugural AMLE School of Distinction, a Purple Star School, and redesignated for a fourth time as a National School to Watch. She also serves as the Associate Director for the Virginia Middle School Association and believes in the transformative power of education during the critical stage of the middle school years.

Sabine Phillips – Florida

Sabine has been an educator for 30 years, with 23 of those years in middle schools. She is currently the principal of Margate Magnet Middle School in Broward County, Florida where she also serves on the district’s middle school executive board. Sabine enjoys facilitating professional development for her fellow educators, both within her district and at AMLE’s Institute for Middle Level Leadership and Annual Conference. She is an advocate for the social and emotional wellness of middle school students so they have an opportunity to learn in schools that are welcoming, inclusive, and affirming for all children.

Cyndi Plemons – Georgia

Cyndi recently graduated from Geogia College and State University and will begin her first year of teaching at Putnam County Middle School this fall. While at Georgia College, she was an integral part of their Collegiate Middle Level Association (CMLA) chapter where she hosted the annual Summit Conference. Cyndi was also selected as an inaugural AMLE Student Ambassador for the AMLE22 Annual Conference where she also presented. Cyndi hopes to bring the perspectives of a first-year teacher to the AMLE Board of Trustees.

Toni Williams – South Carolina

Toni has more than 20 years of experience in middle level education and currently teaches and supervises middle level preservice teachers at the University of South Carolina. There, she also serves as the middle level program coordinator and the CMLA Chapter Advisor. Toni is the editor of Middle Grades Research Journal and president of the South Carolina Professors of Middle Level Education. Toni believes it is part of her social responsibility to advocate for middle level education because of its lasting effect on students.