Cheryl Kirk, Parent Advocate
Cheryl is a married mother of three children, 16-year-old twins and a 9-year-old son, who all currently attend private school on a voucher. She is a Gary, Indiana native but has lived in Indianapolis for many years. While trying to provide a quality education for her children she met many obstacles and became determined to access the best education for her children. Cheryl is a licensed practical nurse and has worked in home care, hospice, long-term care, and is currently the clinical director for an assisted living facility. You can follow her on twitter @kirk_kirk15.
David McGuire, Principal
David is the Principal at Tindley Summit Academy and a Teach Plus Policy Fellow alum. Driven by the lack of having an African American male teachers in his classrooms growing up, David helped launch the Educate ME Foundation, which is geared towards increasing the number of African American male teachers in the classroom. A born and raised Hoosier, he is dedicated to improving educational outcomes for all students in Indianapolis. He describes his educational beliefs as a reformer grounded in the best practices of traditional public schools where strong leaders mentored him. David graduated from Central State University with a degree in English and also holds advanced degrees from Indiana Wesleyan University and Marian University. You can follow him on twitter @MrMcGuire_Teach.
Andrew Pillow, Teacher
Andrew is a technology teacher at KIPP Indy College Prep. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and a Teach for America Alum. Andrew just recently finished his commitment as a Teach Plus Policy fellow, and he is looking forward to putting the skills he’s learned to good use. Andrew has written for several publications in the past on a wide variety of topics but will be sticking to education for his role on Indy K12. You can follow him on twitter @AndrewPillow.
Shawnta S. Barnes (Educator Barnes), Academic Dean & Parent Advocate
Shawnta is a married mother of identical twin boys. As an Indiana native, she attended school in two Indianapolis school districts; she attended Indianapolis Public Schools for two years and completed her education in Lawrence Township Schools. Her sons entered kindergarten during the 2016-2017 school year, so she not only navigates Indianapolis schools from the educator perspective but also the parent perspective. This is her 14th year as an educator. Although she has worked in the urban traditional public school setting for the majority of her career, she student taught in rural Indiana, worked in the suburbs, and in public charter schools. Currently, she is the Editor in Chief and writer for Indy K12, a middle school academic dean, and CEO and Co-Founder of Barnes Brothers Books, LLC. Previously, she served as an elementary library/media specialist, an adjunct college professor, an elementary and high school literacy coach, a middle and high school English/Language Arts teacher, and K-5 English as a New Language teacher. She is also the winner of the 2019 Indiana Black Expo Excellence in Education Journalism Award. In her spare time, she is an urban gardener and writes about her harvest to table journey at www.gardenershicole.com. Her Indy K12 articles can be viewed here. To learn more about Shawnta, visit www.educatorbarnes.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram @educatorbarnes.