Our Wildwood, Summer 2016, Volume 39

g o o d t o k n o w

Meet New Board Members

Amy Ardell FAMILY: Amy and her husband Jim have two children who have attended Wildwood since kindergarten. In the fall, Noah will be in 8th grade and Matthew will be in 4th grade. BUSINESS AND BACKGROUND: Amy has 24 years of experience in education as a teacher in K-12 and higher education. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Latin American history at UCLA, she began her teaching career as a high school Spanish teacher in Japan. A master’s degree in education from UCLA followed, after which she transitioned to work as a bilingual elementary school teacher in Salinas, Saratoga, and Santa Monica, California, public schools. Amy earned her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education in Language, Literacy, and Learning in 2006. After an appointment as a postdoctoral scholar in the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation at USC, Amy joined the faculty at Chapman University as a lecturer in the Teacher Education Department in 2010. Amy is a member of the American Education Research Association, the Literacy Research Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Literacy Association and the North American Reggio Emilia Association. Her research interests involve the social literacy practices of children and adults, particularly as they relate to social class. She is a regular presenter at the Literacy Research Association and American Education Research Association annual conferences. Her scholarly work has been published in Teaching Education, Urban Education, The Reading Teacher, and the Journal of Literacy Research.

Lisa Eisenpresser FAMILY: Lisa has two daughters. This fall, Kate, who started Wildwood in kindergarten, will be entering the 4th grade, and Phoebe, whom she raises with her wife, Angela, will be coming to the Pods. BUSINESS AND BACKGROUND: Lisa is an entrepreneur and producer currently overseeing programming of L/Studio, a premium storytelling platform created by Lexus. Most recently, Lisa was president of Relativity Digital Studios where her division produced the first digital musical feature film. Before this, Lisa served as co-founder and head of development for The Story Lab, a division of global agency Dentsu Aegis Network, where she created TV series Motor City Masters and award- winning digital content to help brands reinvent the way they engage consumers. Lisa was also a founder and CEO of two companies: SaysMe, backed by Intel Capital and partnered with Comcast Cable, was an advertising platform that enabled individuals to create and run their own political ads on TV; and Sunshine Direct was a full- service direct-response TV venture. Lisa grew up in New York and graduated from Brown University where she received a Ford Foundation Grant in Modern Culture and Media. IN A RECENT BLOG, Head of School Landis Green explains the role that Wildwood’s Board of Trustees plays to ensure that the school thrives now and well into the future. Read The Head’s Perspective blog at: wildwoodschoolblog.org