About our staff:
Andrew Beiter, Founder and Director
Andrew Beiter is an 8th Grade Social Studies teacher at Springville
Middle School in Springville, New York. Graduating with a Bachelor's degree in
Political Philosophy from Michigan State University and a Master's degree in
Education from Fredonia State College, Mr. Beiter is also a Regional Education
Coordinator for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, co-Education Director of the Robert H. Jackson Center, a Teacher Fellow
for the Lowell Milken Center for Tolerance in Kansas, and a teacher liaison for Kerry Kennedy's Speak Truth to Power program. As a board
member for Buffalo for Africa and the Holocaust Resource Center of Buffalo, he
has organized numerous workshops on human rights and genocide prevention, and
has recently co-founded the Educators’ Institute for Human Rights, which in the
summer of 2011 organized a conference on the Holocaust for Rwandan teachers in
Kigali. He is the proud parent
of Margaret and Mitchell Beiter, and has been married for 16 years to his wife
Mary, living in Hamburg, New York.
Lori Raybold, Program Coordinator
Lori Raybold is Program Coordinator for the Summer Institute and is also an English teacher at Hamburg High School. Earning Bachelor degrees in English and Education from Penn State and a Master's Degree in English from SUNY Fredonia, she serves on the Board of Directors for Buffalo for Africa, and acts as the co-advisor for Student Activists. Additionally, Lori has attended the Yale Conference on Genocide, the Arthur and Rochelle Belfer National Conference for Educators, and in 2009 traveled to Rwanda with humanitarian Carl Wilkens. Lori lives with her husband Troy, and enjoys hiking and playing the clarinet, which took her to the 1995 Rose Bowl where she performed with the Penn State Marching Band.
James Gang, Education Director
James Gang is Education Director for the Summer Institute and is a History Teacher at Hamburg High School. A graduate of Fredonia State College, Jim has a Masters degree in Education from Canisius College, and was recently appointed as a Teacher Fellow for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where his project has been collecting survivor testimonies of Holocaust and Genocide survivors. Outside of the classroom, Jim enjoys playing the guitar and the bagpipes, as well as tinkering with classic cars and motorcycles.
Stephanie Brown, Associate Director
Stephanie Brown is an Associate Director for the Summer Institute. After earning her BA in Social Studies Education from Buffalo State College, she is presently completing her Master's in Literacy Specialization at the same school. Working as a history teacher at Newfane Middle School, Stephanie has helped organize the 2007 Day of Learning on Darfur at Daemen College, and has also attended the 2008 Arthur and Rochelle Belfer National Conference for Educators held at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. In 2005, she was part of a humanitarian delegation to Costa Rica, doing the same in 2008 to the Dominican Republic. Outside school, Stephanie is active in a variety of community organizations.
Lara Sweeney, Associate Director
Lara Sweeney works at the Summer Institute as an Associate Director. Graduating with honors from SUNY Fredonia in History and Adolescence Education, she has recently completed work on her Master's Degree in Social Studies Education at Buffalo State College. Throughout this time, she was involved with several organizations which focused on social justice in human rights. In the summer of 2008, Lara lived and studied in Ireland, with special focus on the conflicts in the northern part of the country. In her spare time, she enjoys bicycling, going to concerts, and spending time with friends.
Michael Baronich, Associate Director
Michael Baronich, a New York State certified social studies teacher, has been with the Summer Institute since its founding in 2007. A recent graduate from Canisius College in Buffalo, Michael presided over the Gay-Straight Alliance at Canisius where he oversaw the implementation of anti-bullying programs and human rights education into the college's curriculum. Michael’s experiences in the classroom working with student and educators have allowed him to understand the importance of human rights programs and education. He recently traveled to Europe where he participated in a tour of Holocaust-related historical sites, and is currently employed in the Springville-GI School District as a tutor and substitute.
Bob Carlson, BOCES-Summer Institute Liaison
Robert (Bob) Carlson, senior manager of finance and
operations for the School Support Services division at Erie 1 BOCES, is the
acting liaison between Erie 1 BOCES and the Summer Institute. Bob received his
bachelor's degree in education from Daemen College and his master's degree in
school administration through Buffalo State College. He began his 18-year
tenure at BOCES as a health educator providing professional development and
technical assistance to 102 school districts within western New York.
Currently, Bob provides fiscal management for the division's services including
the management of funding from 25 state, federal, county and private grant
contracts. A resident of North Buffalo, Bob resides with two of man's best friends: Tim and Gracie.
Contributing Staff:
Ben Higgins:
Benjamin J. Higgins is the Educator/Technology Integrator at Springville-Griffith Institute in Springville, NY and a founding staff member of the Summer Institute. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education at SUNY Geneseo and received his Master's in Educational Computing from Buffalo State College. A presenter at numerous conferences throughout the country, Ben was recently honored with the international Making It Happen Award for leaders in technology education. His specialty through the Summer Institute is connecting students and teachers to human rights issues through video production, social networking, web development and other 21st century tools. He lives nearby with his wife Allison and son Jonah.
Colleen Coster:
Colleen Coster was the graphic designer for the Summer Institute, where she has created its initial posters, brochures, and webpage. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from SUNY Fredonia in 2001, and is on the Board of Directors for Buffalo for Africa. Currently a Graphic Artist in Chicago, IL, Colleen focuses on web design, brand development, and marketing. She has also attended and planned numerous human rights workshops in Western New York, and is involved with creating the websites for several other humanitarian groups.
Matthew Meader:
Matthew Meader is an English teacher at Hamburg High School in Hamburg, N.Y. and was a founding staff member of the Summer Institute. He received his Bachelor's degree in English from the State university of New York at Fredonia and his Master's in English education at Buffalo State College, completing his thesis on Social Justice in the English Classroom. Matthew attended the 2007 Day of Learning on Darfur at Daemen College, and the 2008 Genocide Education Conference at Yale University. He is on the Board of Directors for Buffalo for Africa, the Global Citizens Institute in Western New York, and is also a Faculty Advisor of Student Activists at Hamburg HS. In 2009, he joined Summer Institute co-chairs Lori Raybold and Drew Beiter to go to Rwanda with humanitarian Carl Wilkens. He lives in Hamburg, NY with his wife, Angela, and his three children, Hannah, Morgan, and Evan.
T.J. Rogers:
TJ Rogers is an alumni of Canisius College where he earned an major in Communication Studies with minors in International Relations and Peace & Justice. In addition to being a Program Assistant at the Summer Institute, TJ was the president of his college's chapter of Amnesty International, where he works to advocate for peace and educate his peers on human rights violations worldwide. He was also recently appointed a Board Member of the Western New York Peace Center, and currently works as a Community Organizer Freedom House for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Detroit.
