In The News

October 1, 2008 Congratulations to ASK Group Associate Debra Mossburg on her retirement September 30, 2008 from Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), Virginia where she was the ED/LD High School Program Specialist. Debby joined ASK Group in early September, bringing with her 20 years of practitioner expertise and 10 years’ experience as a professional developer in the areas of collaborative teaching, accommodations and adaptations for inclusive classrooms, differentiating instruction, literacy, and math instruction for students with disabilities. Debby is featured on the Success Factors in a Standards-Based Classroom DVD produced by FCPS. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration and supervision from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Science in learning and behavioral disorders from the University of New York, Buffalo State College. You can contact Debby at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

September 20 through October 11, 2008 Anna Penniman, Just ASK’s Production & Fulfillment Associate, stars in the role of Millie in the upcoming production of William Inge’s play Picnic at the historic Little Theater of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Virginia. This powerful summer romance won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and centers around a seemingly-ordinary Labor Day picnic that turns into a life-changing event for four small-town women. Tickets can be purchased online from Little Theater of Alexandria. Break a leg, Anna!

August 8, 2008 Wedding bells rang in Singapore! ASK Group Associate Madam Lau Kan How’s younger son, Ming Cherng, who traveled to Virginia for the 2007 ASK Group meeting, married Pauline How on August 8 in Singapore. Kan How's elder son, Rev. Chiang Ming Shun, officiated at the ceremony. Best wishes to the happy couple!

June through August 2008 Madam Lau Kan How, ASK Group Associate, spent this summer traveling to Hanoi, Vietnam, training trainers who then return to their own provinces to train their school principals. She was invited by National Institute of Education, Singapore/National Institute of Vietnam, and her training modules included instructional leadership and mentoring.

July 31-August 3, 2008 The ASK Group Annual Meeting was held at the Hotel Monaco in Alexandria, Virginia. Fifteen consultants, associates, and Friends of ASK engaged in an in-depth study of the recently published second edition of Instruction for All Students. Additionally, they reviewed updated workshop materials and previewed the soon-to-be-released Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century DVD series directed by Brenda Kaylor and produced by Stabio Productions. Each day, the attendees broke into lively small group discussions on issues such as technology integration, 21st century thinking skills, literacy across the curriculum, rigor, relevance, and relationships, data-informed practice, and creating a culture for learning. In addition to all this high-level thinking, the group celebrated Kathi Ruh’s birthday, and feted Brenda Kaylor with a Grandmother Shower!

ASK Group Annual Meeting, Alexandria, Virginia, July 31-August 3, 2008.

July 7, 2008 Congratulations to Marcia Baldanza, who assumed the role of Lead Restructuring Administrator with The School District of Palm Beach County, Florida. Previously, Marcia assisted underperforming schools as part of the Superintendent’s Schools program with Broward County Public Schools, Florida, and was principal of Jefferson-Houston and Patrick Henry Elementary School in Alexandria City Public Schools, Virginia.

June 6, 2008 Harriet Hopkins, ASK Group Associate and School Scheduling Associate, is delighted to announce the release of Elementary School Scheduling: Enhancing Instruction for Student Achievement, published by Eye on Education. The book was written by Robert Lynn Canady and Michael D. Retting, Harriet’s colleagues at School Scheduling Associates, LLC.

Harriet has co-authored two articles with Canady: “Parallel Block Scheduling: A Means of Reducing Class Size and Increasing Uninterrupted Instructional Time for Classroom Teachers,” published in the 1997 ASCD Curriculum Handbook, and “Integrating the Curriculum with Parallel Block Scheduling,” which appeared in Principal in March 1997. She is available to lead workshops on maximizing the use of school instructional time through the design of quality school schedules and engaging instructional activities. You can contact Harriet at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

July 13-15, 2008 Brenda Kaylor, Julie McVicker, Mike Rutherford, and Donovan Goode represented Just ASK at the NSDC Summer Conference in Orlando, Florida. They report that our new 20 x 20 booth layout was amazing and that the booth location was the best in the exhibit hall.

July 9-12, 2008 Betsy Geery, Director of Professional Development, and Linda Murray, Coordinator of Professional Development with the Ysleta Independent School District (YISD), El Paso, Texas made presentations at the 23rd Annual High Schools That Work (HSTW) Staff Development Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Their presentation, Title II to TANGO: New Leadership Growth Opportunities, discussed how YISD built sustainable leadership capacity through its STAR New Teacher Induction program and SMART Lead Mentor program, which were based on Just ASK’s books, Why Didn’t I Learn This in College? and Instruction for All Students.

July 8, 2008 Paula Rutherford presented a day-long seminar titled, Leading the Learning in a Standards-Based Environment, at the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Principals' Summer Institute. This was the twelfth year that Paula has been a member of the faculty at the ACSA Principals' Institute at UCLA.

July 1, 2008 Just ASK is delighted to announce that Julie McVicker has joined us as an ASK Group Associate. Julie lives in Longmont, Colorado and recently retired from her position as the Director of Priority Schools in St. Vrain Valley School District. Prior to that position Julie was principal of elementary schools in St. Vrain Valley School District, Adams County School District, and Burlington School District, Colorado. Without breaking stride, Julie represented Just ASK at NSDC’s Summer Conference in Orlando, Florida July 13-15. Welcome aboard, Julie!


July 1, 2008 Theresa West, ASK Group Associate, assumed the principalship of McNair Elementary School in Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia. This fantastic school has families that represent over fifty countries and languages. Theresa will lead the learning in this richly diverse community, drawing on her bilingual/bicultural education, her ESL teaching strategies expertise, her years of living abroad, and her foreign language fluency. Congratulations McNair for selecting such an outstanding educator as your principal!

June 30, 2008 ASK Group Consultant Kathi Ruh retired from her position as Director of Curriculum and Instruction at East Maine School District #63 Des Plaines, IL on June 30th, but it appears that she plans to keep on retiring until she gets it right. Kathi wrote recently: “I am officially retired...for the second time, and FOR GOOD!” Then she wrote: “I am going to continue in East Maine as the Board secretary and work with them on the tech grant they just received.” So much for retirement! Kathi is, however, pondering an extended visit to Montana, as well as a European river cruise from Paris to the Normandy coast. Now that sounds like retirement!

June 30, 2008 Shrenik Shah, husband of Just ASK’s Graphic Designer/Webmaster Shilpa Shah, received his American citizenship at the John Hopkins Plaza in Baltimore, Maryland on June 30 th. Shrenik, a senior software engineer for Medstar Health, came to the U.S. in 2002 to attend graduate school. The Just ASK team offered him their congratulations, as well as tips and advice for Shrenik as a new U.S. citizen. Exercising the right to vote and visiting U.S. landmarks to learn more about our nation’s rich history were among their suggestions. Congratulations, Shrenik!

June 18, 2008 The Panhandle Area Educational Consortium 41st Annual Leadership Conference in Panama City Beach, Florida featured a keynote by Paula Rutherford titled, Top Ten Tips for Leading the Learning in a Standards-Based Environment. She also presented a concurrent session titled, Digging Deeper into Leading the Learning.

June 16, 2008 Twenty-eight educators from Prince William County Schools, Virginia were officially recognized as Certified Local Trainers (CLTs) for Why Didn’t I Learn This in College. The newly certified CLTs are: Carol April; Moulay-Driss Belkorchi; Cindy Boddie; Bridgett Brookbank; Deena Bulick; Ashleigh Burnette; Cassandra Crawford; Julie Curry; Roni Dorman; Tina Grayson; Janet Greer; Tammy Hinkle; Dawn Johnson; Irene Jones; Carolyn Lamm; Porter Leggett; Victor Martin; Karen Mirkovich; Lynn Nemerow; Shelley Pozehl; Maggie Pompa; Janessa Stancato; Michele Sullivan; Julie Svendsen; Rebecca Tillett; Kari Wilson; and Sarah Wolfe. Congratulations to all!

New CLTs (clockwise from top left) Janessa Stancato, Julie Curry, Cassandra Crawford, and Rebecca Tillett receive their certificates from Sarah Wolfe, Professional Development Specialist and CLT Program Coordinator.

February, 2008 District Administration magazine published its annual Reader's Choice Top 100 Products issue and named Just ASK's Mentoring in the 21st Century Resource Kit to it's Top 100 Products for 2007-2008. The resource kit was one of only 12 items to be chosen in the books & materials category.