Debbie Diller has been an educator since 1976. How time flies, and how teaching has changed! Debbie has taught PreK through 10th grade in public schools in Pennsylvania and Texas. Her experience ranges from being a classroom teacher to a Title I reading specialist to a migrant education teacher to a literacy coach, as well as a national consultant and author. She is the author of many books, including her latest series for Corwin Literacy: Simply Stations. There are four books, with each about a specific literacy station — Independent Reading, Partner Reading, Listening and Speaking, and Writing. She’s also just written Simply Small Groups: Differentiating Literacy Learning in Any Setting. Debbie has also published many books for Stenhouse Publishers, including Growing Independent Learners, Math Work Stations, Spaces & Places, Making the Most of Small Groups, Literacy Work Stations, and Practice with Purpose. She has several videos on literacy work stations and small group instruction.

Debbie has a B.S. from Millersville University and an M.Ed. from Temple University in PA. She uses her strong understandings of child development and literacy and math development to address the differentiated needs of all students in her work with teachers and administrators. Debbie builds upon current research and theory to provide practical, realistic applications in today’s classrooms.

Debbie has trained many teachers in schools across North America in all aspects of literacy instruction and is a popular conference speaker. She is well known for her presentations on literacy (and recently math) work stations and small group instruction. It is important to Debbie to spend time every week working with children and their teachers in classrooms so that she can stay tuned into the needs of today’s children and their teachers. Much has changed since Debbie began teaching in 1976, and she strives to be a 21st century teacher!

Tricia Essick

Tricia Essick began her career in 1978 and taught K-3 for over 30 years in Asheboro City Schools, North Carolina. During this time, she met Debbie Diller and used literacy work stations in her classroom. Tricia has also worked as a building and district level Curriculum Specialist Instructor with a focus on math and science; in this position she moved stations into her district and helped implement them across many classrooms.

Recently, she has written math lessons to support Common Core State Standards for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and worked as a dissemination consultant and writer for a mathematics grant-funded program through Meredith College which provided training in mathematics instruction for classroom teachers across North Carolina. Tricia retired in 2011 after 33 years in education with the state of North Carolina.

Tricia has received numerous teaching awards and technology grants, including Asheboro City Schools’ Math Teacher of the Year, and a 21st Century Technology Classroom Grant for $10,000 which made hers the first elementary classroom in the district with a SmartBoard! She has also been a district trainer for Cognitively Guided Instruction in Mathematics (CGI).

Tricia has a degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro and is Nationally Board Certified. When she is not working, she enjoys boating at the lake, gardening, or fishing and shelling at the beach with her husband of 38 years, Jim. They have two grown children, David and Lauren and three “granddogs.”

Cecilia Vasquez-Borg

Cecilia has a wide range of experience in PreK through 12th grade. She began teaching in 1995, and has worked extensively with second language learners and has been a classroom teacher, a bilingual teacher, and a school improvement specialist for language arts, math, and science. She has also served as a school administrator and has worked as a consultant in public school and charter school settings.

As a consultant, Cecilia has presented best practices in English Language Arts at various conferences and has helped reform low performing schools to Exemplary and Recognized status in districts throughout Texas. She especially enjoys working with English Language Learners transition, school transformations, and turnarounds.

Cecilia has a Master’s degree from Texas A&M in College Station, TX. She is an expert in child development and differentiated instruction. She believes in using best practices, data analysis, and current research and theory to provide purpose, time on task, and rich opportunities for learning in all classrooms. Working with teachers and students daily ensures that her roots as a teacher stay strong. Education is ever-changing, and she continues her learning to be a Master Teacher.

Cecilia grew up in Brownsville, Texas and currently lives in Houston, Texas. She enjoys traveling with her family and having deep conversations with her friends about education.

Christine McDonald

Christine McDonald, my friend and colleague of many years, died peacefully at home with her loving husband, Peter, at her side on Sunday Feb. 20, 2022. She was a leap year baby and passed away just a few days short of her 62nd birthday.

For more than ten years, Christine traveled across the U.S. helping teachers with classroom setup, literacy and math stations, and small group reading instruction as a national education consultant. Educators loved her and invited her to return for multiple visits all over Texas and many other cities and states, such as Topeka, KS; Aurora, IL; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; and Boise, ID. Christine was a loyal friend, a true road warrior, and someone I trusted wholeheartedly. She was a lifelong learner and talented teacher with a 24-year career in Alief ISD and Spring Branch ISD in the Houston area. She was a champion for all children!

Christine had many gifts. She had the ability to work well with all kinds of people (both children and teachers) and knew just how to advance their understanding by working alongside them. She was extremely bright but never tried to outshine anyone. She’d observe, guide, and support, always encouraging and sharing her beautiful smile and hearty laugh.

Christine found her greatest joy in dedicating her life to her family, and being the proud Mama of Hannah, a veterinarian, and Jacob, a Texas A & M veterinary student. Most recently, she and Peter shared the blessing of being grandparents to their newest little love, Emmie J.

Christine is also survived by her three sisters, many nieces and nephews, and her bonus children, Sheila Aldan, and Hayden and Joshua McDonald, as well as her bonus grandchildren, Annistyn and Elijah.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be given to Communities in Schools, 161 S. Castell Ave., New Braunfels, TX 78130 www.cis-sct.org in memory of Sara Christine Schumann McDonald, or the charity of one’s choice.

I know for sure that right now Christine is smiling, a glass of wine in hand, celebrating with us as we remember her gifts, her passion, and her love. Christine leaves a legacy in all those she touched, including every one of us and tens of thousands of children whose lives were changed for the better because of her. If you have a memory of working with Christine or a message that you’d like to share with her family, please send it through the Contact Us page on this website and we will send it to Peter, Hannah, and Jacob.