Teacher Learning Hub- Meet the Team

 Susan Catapano

Professional Learning
Program Manager

Susan has worked as an educator for over 40 years, first as a high school vocational education teacher and most recently, as an Elementary Media Coordinator. She has also owned and operated early childhood centers. She spent the past 25 years working for state universities in Missouri, North Carolina, and Nebraska, as a teacher and administrator educator. She has worked globally as a Fulbright Scholar to the University of Belize in teacher education and continues to work with the Ministry of Education in Belize with teacher education. She enjoys working with preservice, beginning, and experienced teachers to learn about life in schools and what supports teachers and learners to be successful. Susan graduated from the University of North Carolina Greensboro with a BS in Business and Economics and licensure in secondary education, from Maryville University in St. Louis, MO, with a MBA, and an Ed.D. in Higher Education with focus areas in Early Childhood and Adult Education from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. She is a licensed educator in North Carolina in secondary Vocational Education, Middle Grades English Language Arts, Elementary K-6, Teaching Reading, and Media Coordinator. Susan has two daughters and lives in Missoula with her Corgi, Tedi. She loves to travel and visit her home in Belize as much as possible.

 Kimberly Evans

Teacher Learning Hub Instruction Coordinator

Kimberly comes to OPI with a wide variety of experience in education. She started out as an elementary school teacher in a one school, school district. She then moved on to teach at a charter school with Independent Study High School students, and most recently worked with homeschool families and their parent educators. She developed a semester plan for each student on her caseload and worked to vet curriculum and closely monitor student progress. She brings the “teacher hat” to the Teacher Learning Hub Team. She graduated from California State University, Sacramento with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies and then continued her education at UC Davis where she earned her multi-subject CLAD teaching credential. She has two daughters and lives in Helena with her husband, dog, and a cat.

 Allyson Briese

Teacher Learning
Hub Coordinator

Allyson joined the OPI Teacher Learning Hub team in June of 2020. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in K-8 Elementary Education from Montana State University in Bozeman, a Master’s degree in K-12 Curriculum & Instruction from Boise State University in Boise, ID, and a second Master’s degree in K-12 Educational Leadership/Administration from the College of Idaho. She feels fortunate to have found her passion in life early on and as a result, has “never gone to work a day in her life—only to school!” She loves her ‘work’ in education and has taught grades 3 through 6 as well as multi-grade classrooms in both public and private school settings, served as a 5-8 Middle School Principal, a K-12 Curriculum Director, a School Board Chair, and developed and served as the Director of a developmentally-based, parent-involved preschool. Her experiences in education have been many and varied and she is thrilled to continue her work in education at the state level with the Office of Public Instruction. She deeply values her Montana roots, and in her free time, she loves spending time with family and enjoying the great outdoors.

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