Meet The Team
The WAY Central Office team is committed to providing high quality programs and services to our students, staff, schools, and families.
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Jennifer serves as the Regional Executive for WAY. She is a visionary educator and administrator with proven leadership abilities in oversight of multiple districts and programs. She has 27 years of experience in public education in the City of Detroit.
She began her career in elementary education where she spent 12 years as a Reading Recovery Teacher Leader training teachers through Oakland University and implementing the intervention program in 10 elementary schools with Detroit Public Schools. She applied her strong background of Reading and Literacy to her position as Director of Curriculum and Instruction.
In this capacity, she developed academically rich programs for elementary and high school specializing in blended learning models of instruction. Jennifer contributed to the district’s educational platform, Hero, by developing competency- based courses that include national standards plus holistic competencies to create learning paths that prepare students to graduate; college, career, and workforce ready.
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Michelle Sarkody has been with WAY Program since 2010. She is currently serving as the Director of Compliance and Accountability for WAY Program.
A few of Mrs. Sarkody’s responsibilities include completion and submission of numerous state and federal forms on behalf of the Academy sites Michelle also assists with WAY partner sites with the same task, ensuring compliance documents are completed, submitted, and uploaded to the Academy site authorizers, handles pupil accounting for Academy site locations, REP reporting, MCIR reporting and much more.
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Kelli Glenn, Director of Finance, has 22 years of experience in the complex and ever changing environment of school finance. Prior to joining WAY Program, Kelli was employed with several Public Schools working with both thriving and financially challenged schools districts.
Kelli has direct knowledge of Public School Academy Budgeting, Cash Management, Auditing Standards and establishing strong Internal Controls. Kelli also has more than 18 years of experience working with Grants and Federal Funds. While working in the Public School Arena, Kelli had financial oversite of a $64 million dollar Bond Project that came in under budget and on time and helped negotiate a 10% salary reduction to reduce costs in a deficit district.
Kelli holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Eastern Michigan University and attended the Colorado State University Masters of Science in Accounting program. Kelli Glenn is also a member of MSBO (Michigan School Business Officials) where she holds a CFO certification.
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Darrell administers the overall goals, policy, workflow, and projects for the multimedia and technology departments. This includes the design, development, and support of web-based initiatives, video needs, marketing initiatives, pupil accounting, and technology services. He is also responsible for aligning multimedia technology services into a unified, formal structure and provide supervision, leadership, implementation, and strategic planning for these services.
Darrell's twenty-plus year career in Instructional Technology and Web Application Development has encompassed a diverse set of experiences, from hands-on technology development and implementation to project management and administration for Wayne County and statewide school systems. During this time he has successfully completed many large-scale technology initiatives, including the acquisition, logistics, and implementation of distance learning technology packages for Detroit Public Schools, enterprise-level technology deployment for Wayne County schools, and development of statewide government streaming video systems for Michigan REMC Association and the Michigan Department of Education.
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Madeline has been a leader in blended and project based learning since 2008. She provides our partnerships with experience gained from years in education serving as a classroom teacher, building leader, community outreach and quality assurance director. She is a mentor for students, teachers and administrators.
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Mark's nineteen year career in Information Technology experience includes, but not limited to, Network LAN WAN implementation, Management of technical department personnel. Technical Lead for the installation of a multi campus Windows and Apple server farm. The development Lead of new data center operations and security procedures.
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Rich is a proven leader in non-traditional education at the local, regional and state levels. With more than 20 years of progressive experience in education as a counselor, building administrator, central office administrator and assistant superintendent, his passion is working with district professionals to implement the most supportive, enriched environment possible for learners.
Rich has been often called upon to share his expertise with other educators in a variety of settings - including presentations at state and national conferences.
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Brett serves as the Assistant Director of Development at WAY. As a high school English teacher, he loved designing instruction and bringing creative ideas to life. Brett comes from a classroom teaching and instructional design background. Prior to joining the WAY team, he spent several years teaching at public schools and Wayne State University.
Outside of the office, you’ll find him reading, playing board games, and hiking with his son and wife.
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Lindita serves as the Coordinator of Online Instruction at WAY. She is a skilled educator with a deep understanding of multidisciplinary project-based learning and experienced in engaging hands-on learning while maintaining academic rigor.
Lindita started teaching at the high school level in English and Health for 8 years in the classroom setting. During that time she created and implemented a writing protocol to be followed school wide which included common assessments and accountability among teachers and students. She also served as a health and ELA online expert with WAY, and as an ESL college instructor at Lawrence Technological University.
As Coordinator of Online Instruction, she works with the online teaching staff to instill practices for teaching diverse learners through well-versed instructional strategies reaching students of different skill levels in the same instructional setting.
Online Teaching Staff
Shannon Beiser
Science Teacher
Randi Watts
Careers Teacher
Lea Arend
Social Studies & ICT Teacher
Jennifer Tomanek
Careers Teacher
Beverly Henry
Science Teacher
Stephanie Current
Visual Arts Teacher
Megan Thompson
Science Teacher
Juliette Abbott
Visual & Performing Arts Teacher
Maggie Gistinger
Social Studies Teacher
Joe Bradley
Social Studies & ICT Teacher
Jason Williams
ELA & Social Studies Teacher
Tina Donze
Music Teacher
Kathryn Haske
Math Teacher
Sara Millward
ELA Teacher
John Martini
Physical Education Teacher
Amanda Coughlin
Psychology Teacher
Kerin Stover
Science Teacher
Stacy Long
Social Studies Teacher
Debra Lammers
Social Studies & ELA Teacher
Tracy Dryer
ELA & Psychology Teacher
Jeff Sanford
Social Studies Teacher
Lynn Bahena
Math Teacher
Laurie Leet
Spanish Teacher
William Ballard
Health & Physical Education Teacher