AMLE Board of Trustees

Chandra Diaz, Associate Dean, CO
Chair
Chandra was a middle school math educator for 12 years in Lincoln, NE and prepared middle level education majors for 7 years at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She is currently the Associate Dean in the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver in Denver, CO and currently belongs to the Colorado Association of Middle Level Educators (CAMLE).
Contact Chandra
Rachel Graham, Executive Director, IL
Vice Chair
Rachel is the Executive Director of Success Bound, a postsecondary program working with middle schools and districts across the country, and a Strategic Advisor at the Lefkofsky Family Foundation where she supports the foundation’s grantmaking.
Contact Rachel
Walter Lee, Assistant Professor, SC
Executive Council
After teaching in Title I schools for more than five years, Walter now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina Upstate where he is also the coordinator of the University’s Call Me MiSTER program.
Contact Walter
Cyndi Plemons, Teacher, GA
Executive Council
Cyndi is an eighth grade language arts teacher and cross country coach in Georgia. She was in the inaugural AMLE student ambassador group in 2022, and has since become one of the mentors for undergraduate ambassadors.
Contact Cyndi
Toni Williams, Professor, SC
Executive Council
Toni M. Williams is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at the University of South Carolina. Her research and scholarship build on social justice, equity, culturally sustaining pedagogies in middle level teacher education. She is committed to engaging and supporting pre-service middle level teacher candidates as they transition to novice middle school educators.
Contact Toni
Tami Jo Cook, Assistant Principal, MN
Tami Jo Cook currently serves as the Assistant Principal at South View Middle School in Edina, Minnesota. She has been a middle level educator for over 30 years, serving in leadership roles with the MN Middle School Association, as well as with the Special Olympics National Educators Leadership Network and as a faculty member for the AMLE Leadership Institutes.
Contact Tami Jo
Katie Johnson, Principal, VA
Katie Johnson, currently the principal of Belmont Ridge Middle School in Leesburg, Virginia, has 18 years of experience in education, with 14 years at the middle school level. Under her leadership, Belmont Ridge has received multiple accolades, including being named a School of Distinction and a National School to Watch. Mrs. Johnson, who holds degrees from SUNY Binghamton, Hofstra University, and George Mason University, is also involved in various educational associations and was recently inducted into the Loudoun County Women’s Hall of Fame.
Contact Katie
Maya Kratzke, Middle & High School Dean of Students, MD
Maya Kratzke holds a double-B.A. in Creative Writing and Literary Studies from Beloit College, an M.S. in Secondary Education from Johns Hopkins University, and a Certificate in School Management & Leadership from Harvard University. Ms. Kratzke serves on the Middle School Advisory Network for MBA Research. A short story writer by trade, she has published short stories in The Write Launch and The Bangalore Review.
Contact Maya
Will Murphy, Assistant Head of School, VA
Will Murphy serves as the Assistant Head of School for Program at The Seven Hills School in Richmond, Virginia. He previously led English programs at a French international school in Washington, D.C., and at an all-boys school in Lima, Peru, where he also headed the middle school.
Contact Will
Stephanie Patton, Area Superintendent, OH
Stephanie currently serves as an Area Superintendent for Columbus City Schools. She oversees 19 schools, specifically 5 middle schools. Stephanie was previously the principal of an all-girls middle school focusing on equity, girl empowerment, and high academic standards.
Contact Stephanie
Sabine Phillips, Principal, FL
Sabine B. Phillips currently serves as the Principal of Margate STEM Magnet Middle School located in Broward County, Florida. She has been a Middle School Principal for the past 16 years and an educator in the same district for over thirty years. She is an Executive Board Member of the Florida League of Middle Schools, and has served as a faculty member for the AMLE Leadership Institutes.
Contact Sabine
Megan Vosk, Teacher, Laos
Megan has taught middle school students for more than twenty years in the United States and overseas in Vientiane, New Delhi, Seoul, and Abu Dhabi. She is passionate about social justice, inclusion, and fostering belonging in our learning spaces.
Contact Megan

2027 Board of Trustees Election

The 2027 Board of Trustees Election will occur at the AMLE Annual Business Meeting on Thursday, November 5 at 6:00 pm Central Time in conjunction with AMLE26: The 53rd Annual Conference for Middle Level Education in Nashville, Tennessee.

If you are not able to attend the meeting and wish to cast your vote, you are encouraged to submit an absentee ballot. Absentee ballots must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time, September 30, 2026, to be counted in this year’s election.

Cast an Absentee Ballot

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

Caplinger_Board

Dr. Robert Caplinger | Chief Communications Officer
Laveen School District
Laveen, Arizona

Dr. Robert Caplinger has dedicated more than 30 years to middle-level education, serving as a teacher, school counselor, assistant principal, principal, district administrator, university faculty member, and national presenter. Throughout his career, his work has centered on advancing the principles of This We Believe to create developmentally responsive, equitable, and engaging schools for young adolescents. He currently serves as Chief Communications Officer for the Laveen School District, a faculty member in Arizona State University’s College of Education, and founder and President of the Arizona Association for Middle Level Education. He also previously served as a faculty member for the AMLE Institute for Middle Level Leadership. Dr. Caplinger was recognized as the 2005 AMLE Educator of the Year and served as principal of an inaugural AMLE School of Distinction. He seeks to serve on the AMLE Board of Trustees to expand AMLE’s national impact, strengthen state affiliate organizations, and advance excellence in middle grades education.

Lewis_Board

Torrance Lewis | Assistant Superintendent
Lincoln Public Schools
Lincoln, Massachusetts

Torrance Lewis is a longtime advocate for young adolescents whose career has been dedicated to strengthening middle-level education. Over more than two decades, he has served as a middle-grades teacher, an upper-elementary teacher, a general education interventionist, a middle school coordinator, an assistant principal, a principal, and a district leader – both in public and international schools. His leadership reflects a deep commitment to creating developmentally-responsive schools where every student is known, challenged, and supported — a commitment that he hopes to expand as a member of the AMLE Board of Trustees. Due to his advocacy, in 2014 and 2015 he was invited to be a Changemaker at The Nantucket Project and was recognized with a Hero Award by the Brookline Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) in 2022 and 2023. Moreover, his strategic planning as a K-8 school principal focusing on the needs of middle-level learners led to improved student outcomes as well as recognition as a 2022 National Blue Ribbon School. Now in his fourth year as assistant superintendent, he currently serves as the district representative on the Town of Lincoln’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Anti-Racism (IDEA) Committee and was asked to be a mentor and coach to other assistant superintendents by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (M.A.S.S).

AMLE Staff

Christopher Woodside
Chief Executive Officer
cwoodside@amle.org

Derek Neal
Chief Operating Officer
dneal@amle.org

Katie Powell
Director for Middle Level Programs
kpowell@amle.org

Kristy Yonyon
Marketing / Membership Coordinator
kyonyon@amle.org

Megan Mooney
Accounting Manager
mmooney@amle.org

Amanda Logan
Membership Services Specialist
alogan@amle.org

Helen Polansky
Partnerships Manager
hpolansky@amle.org

Sarah Pennington
CMLA West Chapter At-Large Advisor

Kristie Smith
CMLA East Chapter At-Large Advisor
Middle School Journal Co-Editor

Dr. Lisa Harrison
Middle School Journal Co-Editor

Dr. Ellis Hurd
Middle School Journal Co-Editor and CAEP Coordinator

Dr. David Virtue
Research in Middle Level Education Online Journal Editor

Past Presidents/Chairs

AMLE is grateful to the dedicated educators who have served as President/Chair and who have contributed to our rich history

2024-2025 Stephanie Patton
2022-2023 Lisa Harrison
2020-2021 James Barnes
2019 Christine Thielen
2018 Nancy Ruppert
2017 Pam Millikan
2016 Kathleen McCaffery
2015 Ashley Smith,
2014 Mike Muir
2013 Jeff LaRoux
2012 Nancy Poliseno
2011 Joan Jarrett
2010 Cathie Thibodeau
2009 Janet Vernon,
2008 Theresa Hinckle
2007 Mike Dietz
2006 Patti Kinney
2005 Kathy McAvoy
2004 Marc Ecker
2003 Linda Robinson
2002 Deborah Kasak
2001-2002   Santo Pino
2000-20001 Fran Salyers
1999-2000 Marion Payne
1998-1999 Walt Grebing
1997-1998 Pete Lorain

1996-1997 Ross Burkhart
1995-1996 Jerry Adrian
1994-1995 Charlene Pike
1993-1994 Betty Edwards
1992-1993 Sue Swaim
1991-1992 Jeanette Phillips
1990-1991 Julia Thomason
1989-1990 James Garvin
1988-1989 Conrad Toepfer
1987-1988 Robert Shockley
1986-1987 Gerald Bourgeois
1985-1986 Ann Moniot
1984-1985 Ronald Johnson
1983-1984 Kenneth McEwin
1982-1983 Mary Compton
1981- 1982 Sherri Scott
1980-1981 John Swaim
1979-1980 Louis Romano
1978-1979  James Fox
1977-1978  Robert Malinka
1976-1977 Thomas Gatewood
1975-1976 Keith Brown
1974-1975 Glenn Maynard
1973-1974 Hal Gladdis
1972-1973 Gordon Vars