The MO SW-PBS regional consultants are experts in SW-PBS. They provide assistance in helping school teams al all three levels to assess their systems, practices and data, and to adjust them when indicated. Funding through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has been made available to each of the state's nine regional professional development centers (RPDC's) to hire a full-time SW-PBS consultant.
The role of SW-PBS consultants is to assist schools and districts in understanding, implementing, and sustaining the PBS process. Consultants provide assistance to school personnel in applying reliable and effective schoolwide systems, practices and data-based decisions across the three-tiered continuum of universal, secondary and tertiary levels. The purpose of SW-PBS consultation is to serve as a resource to school and district-wide efforts and to build capacity within those entities so that they become self-sufficient in maintaining the SW-PBS process. The consultants do not serve as members of individual school or district teams, but rather as consultants to the teams. They provide a wealth of in-service trainings on a variety of topics. Please contact your local consultant through your RPDC center.
Susan Brawley, M.Ed., is the Regional Schoolwide PBS Consultant with the Heart of Missouri RPDC, housed in the College of Education, University of Missouri-Columbia. She serves 75 districts in mid-Missouri and currently also supports school districts in the Northeast Missouri region.
Susan joined the RPDC in Fall 2005 after being an elementary classroom teacher, college adjunct instructor, independent trainer, and the Education Coordinator for an eight county mid-Missouri Head Start program. In her previous roles she learned first hand how schools work, the importance of quality training for adult learners and the skills it takes to be an administrator. During her time with Head Start program, Susan assisted with the implementation of program-wide Positive Behavior Support in the twenty-eight classrooms and four home-base settings that were under her supervision. This rich experience fueled her passion to spread the word to administrators and teachers about the benefits of implementing Positive Behavior Support.
Aside from her role at the RPDC, Susan is busy pursuing an Ed. Specialist degree in Special Education, building collaborative partnerships with other programs and continuing to participate in quality training. She also likes to cook for her new husband and play with their dog, Max, and two cats, Sunny and Thomas.
For more information about implementing Schoolwide PBS in the Heart of Missouri region, contact Susan at (573)882-5763 or e-mail her at cooksm@missouri.edu.
Lois Jones, M.Ed., is the Regional School-wide PBS Consultant with the Southwest Regional Professional Development Center, located in Springfield at Missouri State University. The SWRPDC serves 90 districts in Southwest Missouri.
Lois joined the RPDC in the summer of 2006 after being in public education for the past 32 years. Her teaching experience includes working with students K-12 in various settings involving regular and special education classrooms. Her certifications in the areas of elementary education, learning disabilities, mentally handicapped, counselor, school psychological examiner, principal, and special education administration have allowed Lois to contribute in many areas of public education. Lois spent the last twenty years with the Reeds Spring School District culminating as Director of Special Services. She currently lives in Kimberling City with her husband Gary where she enjoys being involved with her community serving on the board of directors for the Stone County Juvenile Drug Court, Healthy Families Task Force for Stone and Taney County, and Love, INC with the Silver Dollar City Foundation. Lois enjoys working with area school districts to help them create safer and more effective learning environments.
Jill Miller, M of Ed., is the Regional School-Wide Positive Behavior Support Consultant with the St. Louis Cooperating School District in the Regional Professional Development Center, located on the campus of the University of Missouri St. Louis. The St. Louis CSD and RPDC serve St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St.Charles County, Jefferson County and Lincoln County.
Prior to joining CSD and the RPDC in the summer of 2007, Jill taught 7th and 8th grade special education classes at Lincoln County. Jill's many years of experience include teaching special education students K-12, regular education student's grades 6-8, and the severe and profound students and adults. Jill was also an Assistant Program Director for the developmentally disabled adults at a day program and for assisted living facilities.
Outside the professional circle Jill enjoys activities with her family, traveling to anyplace with a beach, visiting historical sites and civil war museums.
Brandi Schumacher, M.Ed., is the Regional Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support Consultant for the Southeast RPDC, housed in the Innovation Center at Southeast Missouri State University. Brandi currently participates in a collaborative effort with several enthusiastic SW-PBS teams in the region.
Brandi, a Cape Girardeau native, joined the RPDC in the summer of 2006. She has held various positions in the field of Education, ranging from preschool through the college level. Brandi returned to the area after working as adjunct faculty at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. Brandi was also a Special Education and Literacy Consultant for a Head Start program in Phoenix, AZ, as well as a classroom teacher. Brandi has ascertained the importance of effective behavior management with students and the need for a system wide approach to supporting students both academically and behaviorally. Along with the schools implementing SW-PBS in Southeast Missouri, Brandi is committed to teaching the whole student by fostering growth in a nurturing environment.
Brandi strives for a positive approach in her personal life as well. She teaches yoga at a local studio in the evenings and hopes to eventually study the effects of yoga on students' behavior and learning. Brandi likes to read, travel, cook and go out to hear live music.
Robert J. Rethemeyer, M. of Ed. and Ed. Specialist, is the Regional School wide PBS Consultant for the Central RPDC which is housed in Room 232 of the Foster-Knox Complex at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, MO.
Robert joined the RPDC in November of 2007 after spending thirty years being a middle school teacher, middle school principal, summer school principal, summer school coordinator, professional development coordinator, and college adjunct instructor. In his previous roles, he has learned how students, educators, and school administrators — at building level and district level — function. His experiences in working with at-risk students, both as a teacher and summer school principal, implementing and creating pre-service and ongoing mentoring activities for beginning teachers as the professional development coordinator, plus teaching and supervising traditional and alternative certification students as an adjunct instructor at the University of Central Missouri have created a varied experiential background from which to draw upon as he begins his role as the Positive Behavior Support Coordinator for the Central RPDC.
Outside of professional activities, Robert helps his wife of 36 years take care of her mother, father, and grandmother.Additionally, keeping up on the latest news of their daughter and son-in-law who have blessed them with two grandchildren and their son provide plenty of discussion around the dinner table.
Serving as the new Regional Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support Consultant for the South Central RPDC is Jo Ann Anderson. She will be serving school districts spanning fourteen counties with 69 schools in South Central Missouri.
Jo Ann is coming to RPDC after retiring from the Rolla Public School System. She worked as an elementary guidance counselor at Mark Twain Elementary for the past 31 in years. She has also, during that time in Rolla, taught English at Rolla Junior High and served as guidance counselor at Harry S. Truman Elementary. Previous to coming to Rolla, she taught journalism and was a high school librarian. She comes to us with a background in assessment, working with special education issues, crisis issues facing school districts, and using positive discipline approaches with students. She has served on the Character Education and Positive Behavior Support teams since their inclusion in Rolla Schools. She also serves on the Rolla Parent as Teachers board of directors.
Jo Ann has a Bachelor's degree in English Education and Library Science from Missouri State University. She also has a Master's degree in Guidance and Counseling - K-12, from Missouri State University.
Jo Ann is one of the few RPDC staff who actually lives in Rolla! She and her husband, Bob, enjoy living in Rolla and all it has to offer. Bob sells real estate with the Bill Brown Realtor Company and is the developer of Ann Lee Estates, a residential housing area. They have two children Stephanie, 25, and Dena, 17. Like her parents, Stephanie is a graduate of Missouri State University. She is currently in her second year of teaching at Mark Twain Elementary in Rolla and is a member of the PBS Team. Dena is currently a senior at Rolla High School and will be entering a university next fall to study French.
The positive approach to behavior in children is a proven method of working with schoolwide, classroom and individual interventions toward success. Jo Ann believes PBS offers support for all students and has lived it and applied it from the ground up. Now, she is here to help you in any way possible.
She is honored to be able to work with the extraordinary educators of South Central Missouri in developing schoolwide positive behavioral supports. Feel free to contact her with your special needs at joann@umr.edu or call 573-341-4153 or toll free at 1-800-667-0665.
Carol Plumley, M.Ed. and Ed. Specialist in Elementary Administration, is a Regional Schoolwide PBS Consultant at the Southwest Regional Professional Development Center on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.
Carol joined the RPDC in the fall of 2007 after a brief retirement from the Springfield Public Schools. She has been involved in public school education in Missouri since 1975 as a teacher of special education, gifted education, Title 1 reading and math, grades 4-6 and as an elementary principal. She was a Missouri Distinguished Principal in 2002 and her school received the Gold Star School Award in 2003.
Family is a major focus for Carol and her husband, Bob. They have two adult children living nearby. Carol enjoys reading, traveling, being active in her small, rural church and walking with her dog, Cowley.
Carol Plumley
Southwest RPDC
Missouri State University
430 South Avenue, 4th Floor
Springfield, MO 65806
Office: 1-800-735-3702
Cell: 417 -343-4155
CarolPlumley@MissouriState.edu
Terry Bigby, Ed.D., is the regional Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support Consultant with the Kansas City Regional Professional Development Center, University of Missouri-Kansas City. She serves 23 districts in the Kansas City area and also provides consultation, technical support, and staff development for school districts in the Northwest region.
Terry has worked with children with special needs in grades K-12 for over 30 years as a special education teacher, regular education teacher, behavior specialist, and special education coordinator in rural, urban, and suburban school districts in Kansas and Missouri. She led social skills training and anger control groups and conducted assessments for students with significant emotional and behavioral challenges in her work as a behavior specialist. Terry also collaborated with administrators and teachers to develop effective intervention strategies for students with learning and behavior problems. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary and Special Education and a Master’s Degree in Behavior Disorders. She completed her doctoral work in the field of Educational Leadership at Saint Louis University. Terry conducted research on effective reform efforts for students at risk of school failure. Her professional experiences and research about effective practices led to her decision to work with the Missouri Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support initiative to build internal capacity within schools and districts to address “the behavioral and discipline systems needed for successful learning and social development of all students.”
Terry Bigby, Ed.D.
UMKC Professional Development Center
30 West Pershing Road, Suite 401
Kansas City, MO 64108
Office: 816-235-6130
bigbyt@umkc.edu