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UP Faculty

Lindsey Halman (she/her)

Executive Director

Lindsey is committed to exploring radically inclusive education and multiple ways of knowing. She believes there is no more compelling time than right now to ask, “how do I meet this moment with courage, vulnerability, and creativity?” She joined the UP team in 2018 after 15 years as a middle level educator, leader and advocate. Prior to joining UP, she co-founded The Edge Academy at Essex Middle School. The Edge Academy served as a model and learning laboratory for many educators throughout Vermont, and beyond. The Edge integrated education for sustainability, as well as the arts, into all aspects of the team and curriculum. At the Edge Academy, there was a strong focus on youth voice and partnership, student-centered learning, project-based learning, and restorative practices. See this link for more information about Lindsey’s work at the Edge.

Lindsey is passionate about building strong relationships with youth and adults, helping them feel empowered to make change, and creating a socially just climate and culture for all. During her time as a middle level educator, she started, and co-facilitated, a student-led peer leadership program, a whole-school restorative practice process, as well as a GSA at Essex Middle School. Lindsey held her National Board Certification as a middle level generalist and is a strong advocate for reimagining and transforming education.

She is currently past-president and a board member of VAMLE (Vermont Association for Middle Level Education) and a member of the Community Advisory Board/RJ Panel Volunteer for the Essex Community Justice Center. In addition, she has served as adjunct faculty at Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, Vermont, where she taught middle level education courses to pre and inservice educators. Lindsey lives in Jericho, VT with her husband, Josh, daughter, Aila and pup, Rosie. In her spare time she can be found spending time with her family, taking ballet classes, gardening, dreaming about flowers, reading, and loving the outdoor activities that every season brings to Vermont.

Ana Lindert-Boyes (she/her)

Youth Program Specialist

Ana has worked with UP since 2018, first as a participant of Transforming School Culture through Restorative Practices, later as a co-facilitator, and now as a Youth Program Specialist. She is very passionate about youth adult partnership, as well as transformative approaches towards education and creating personalized opportunities for learning and growth for all students.

Having just completed her year of early college at Goddard, Ana will be attending Boston University’s College of General Studies in January 2023.

Ana lives in Plainfield, Vermont with her family. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, as well as both playing and listening to music.

Christie Beveridge (she/her)

Program and Communications Director

Christie has worked in education for 18 years as a middle and high school English teacher, DEI coordinator, and program manager of a college women’s and gender center. She earned her B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing at Colby College, and her M.A. at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. She is passionate about supporting youth voice, and about making school a place where everyone feels that they belong. She enjoys running, yoga, backcountry skiing, writing, and reading, and lives in Burlington with her pup, Sir Toby. 

Evelyn Monje (she/they)

Youth Program Specialist

Evelyn Monje joined UP for Learning in January of 2021. She is currently a student at the University of Vermont where she is pursuing a degree in social work. Evelyn is an active advocate for antiracism and equity in her community.

She is passionate about collaborating with youth and adults to further the understanding of both antiracism and equity through restorative practices.

Evelyn enjoys working on Bread and Butter Farm year-round as an educator. She loves to be outdoors and to embark on adventures with her friends.

Harry Frank (he/him)

YATST Coordinator

Harry joined the staff at UP for Learning in July of 2017. It’s really a homecoming for him as he worked with UP in its early years and returned to focus on Youth and Adults Transforming Schools Together (YATST).  He brought extensive experience with UP to his new role, having served as Chairperson of the UP Board of Directors.

Harry started teaching 35 years ago and has always looked for ways to create circumstances for everyone to thrive. He has taught in public, private, and alternative schools and served as a Director of Curriculum and Instruction. In addition to working in schools, Harry has worked with education-focused non-profit organizations and has managed a number of education grants and projects in Vermont. Most recently, he served as the Vice President for Programs at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps and as the Director for Education Services at the Vermont School Boards Association, where he collaborated with youth and adults around the state to develop a Guide to Student Voice in Education Governance.

Harry earned his undergraduate degree at Wesleyan University and holds a Master’s degree in Education from Saint Michael’s College.

Jackie Verley (she/her)

Program Director

Jackie joined the UP team in August 2021. Previously, she worked as a piano teacher, librarian, public school teacher, and as a park ranger for Vermont State Parks. As a teacher, Jackie enjoyed partnering with students to foster a sense of belonging in and out of the classroom. In her work at UP, Jackie is inspired by the way youth and adults can transform their school communities through relationships and shared values. Jackie lives in the Northeast Kingdom where she reads, bikes, cooks, bakes and skis.

Jesse Brooks (she/her)

Getting to 'Y' Program Director

Jesse loves learning. One might say she is UP for it! Before joining the UP team in January of 2023, Jesse worked in public health and advocacy for nearly seven years. Her experience includes grant writing, grant management, data collection, evaluation, public health policy, community engagement, and youth substance prevention programming. Jesse deeply understands community and social impact and has researched the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM), a social innovation method that affects environmental choices and opportunities. She shares UP’s vision for education access, equity, and for every person to feel a sense of purpose and belonging.

Jesse lives in Ferrisburgh, Vermont, with her children (Reiss, Rory, Eamon, Shawe, and June) and her husband, Jeremy. Jesse loves history, hiking, cooking, and random facts. Jesse’s favorite random fact? She’s glad you asked! A group of penguins hanging out is called a waddle (penguins also waddle).

Katie Ingraham (she/her)

Program Director

Katie is a dedicated sustainable leadership professional working to actualize a vision of education where youth feel engaged with the world around them, where justice is centered, where many ways of knowing and learning are honored, and where communities thrive. She is joining UP for Learning in 2022 after working for seven years in the Vermont public education setting. She started teaching youth as an AmeriCorps member at an outdoor high school program and outdoor preschool program in Addison County. For the past four years she started and ran a restorative drop-in space where students would self-advocate to work, take breaks, or check-ins with a trusted adult at a middle school in Washington County. Her previous professional practice has focused on building relationships with youth and adults that are transformative and meaningful.

Katie is a person who centers love and collaboration in her work. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Leadership for Sustainability from the University of Vermont in 2021. Katie loves learning and connecting with the youth and world around her. She enjoys basket weaving, yoga, hiking, skiing, kayaking, and swimming. She lives in Richmond, Vermont with her husband Samuel and her dog Nim.

Maise Franke (she/her)

Youth Program Specialist

Maisie Franke (she/her) joined UP for Learning in the spring of 2020. She is currently a senior and is super excited to be attending the University of Vermont next year! She is a student representative on her school board and tries to take advantage of every opportunity to increase student voice that comes her way.

She joined UP as a youth facilitator with Cultivating Pathways to Sustainability and is continuing her work as a Youth Program Specialist and secretary for UP’s Board of Directors. She spent last year creating the Youth Leadership Module with support from youth from her school and is thrilled to witness the content in action with teams engaged in every area of UP’s work. Maisie strongly believes in the power of youth-adult partnership and is working towards empowering youth to feel more confident and comfortable with being in leadership roles so they can create meaningful change in their communities.

Maisie loves to ski and spends as much time as she can outdoors exploring new trails and searching for fresh powder with friends, teammates, and family. She hopes to pursue becoming certified as a WildernessFfirst Responder in the future and can’t wait for all the new experiences to come in college!

Max King (he/him)

Youth Program Specialist

Max joined the UP For Learning team in 2019. He began working in his own school but rapidly fell in love with UP’s message of youth adult partnership and stuck with the work after graduating in 2022.

Ever since he was young, he has believed in the power of education and has always wanted it to be a safe and inclusive space for everyone. He is excited to branch out and work with other school districts while diving into new projects and further exploring the UP For Learning world.

In addition to his love for education, Max is also a lover of animals, writing, and many art forms. His hope is to some day work as an animal trainer and photographer to help others find their perfect fluffy match. One of his favorite activities is taking photos of his own fluffy friend, a 13 year old cat named Dustin.

Meredith Scott (she/her)

Operations Director

Meredith comes to UP for Learning from the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF). As CLiF’s Program Director, she developed grants for schools and libraries to fund literacy programs. She focused on developing a long-term, in-depth program model by nurturing relationships within communities, building strong cultures of literacy, and strategizing for long-term sustainability. Prior to CLiF, she worked at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe for 12 years, for the last seven as director. Meredith earned a double major in history and art history from Dartmouth College and began her career in museums in Washington, DC, and Colorado. She went on to earn a Masters degree from the University of Glasgow and moved to Vermont to work at Shelburne Museum. Bringing educational opportunities to all has motivated Meredith professionally and personally. 

In her free time, she likes to visit museums near and far, learn new things, read interesting books, and enjoy Vermont and beyond on skis, bikes, and foot. She lives with her family in Morrisville, Vermont.

Pat LaClair (he/him)

Program Director

Pat is joining the UP team after ten years of teaching at Lamoille Union High School in northern Vermont. Initially drawn to teaching through his interest in sharing the ancient Roman language of Latin, Pat found a true calling in supporting and empowering young people to scrutinize the status quo, steer their own learning, and become agents of positive change. In his time at Lamoille Union, Pat partnered with students in the school’s YATST team to shape practices around proficiency-based learning, the advisory program, and the school’s capstone graduation requirement. Pat is currently continuing his own learning journey as a doctoral student in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program at the University of Vermont. 

Pat lives in Franklin County with his partner Margaret and their very adorable toddler. Pat is easily excitable and compulsively takes on new hobbies. Currently, he particularly enjoys gardening with native plants, baking hearty breads, nature photography, very amateur woodworking, and birding. His favorite bird is the Brown-headed Cowbird, and his favorite punctuation mark is the exclamation point!

Sharon Koller (she/her)

GTY Program Consultant

 Sharon brings over 30 years of experience working with youth in mental health, education and prevention sectors. After starting her career as a licensed counselor in community mental health settings, Sharon became deeply involved in schools by serving on governance boards, volunteering in classrooms, and by implementing student engagement and leadership initiatives in partnership with the Foundation for Excellent Schools and the Vermont Principals’ Association/Vermont Peace Academy.

Before joining UP for Learning, Sharon worked as a Student Assistance Program counselor in a public middle and high school, providing mental health and substance use prevention, screening and intervention services, and promoting youth voice, agency, and engagement through prevention and leadership clubs (including Getting to ‘Y’), facilitation training, and peer mentoring programs.

After almost a decade as a Getting to ‘Y’ advisor, Sharon is thrilled to be supporting youth-adult teams around the state as they implement the initiative in their own schools and communities!

Helen Beattie (she/her)

Leadership Team Emeritus

Helen Beattie is the founder and Senior Consultant of UP for Learning (Unleashing the Power of Partnership for Learning). Her seemingly eclectic professional and academic life course has woven itself into the creation of UP for Learning.

It reflects a life-long passion for elevating the voices of those who feel disempowered and voiceless, either in the health or education realms.

Helen has written multiple place-based and action research curricula which have been implemented statewide and replicated nationally, facilitated numerous student leadership and faculty development retreats, and taught a variety of Master’s level courses on school redesign, experiential education strategies and the elevation of young people as change agents. She is an ardent advocate for reshaping the conception of the role of students in learning and change and contributing to research in this domain.