Educational Advisors

Our education curriculum is developed with insight from top educators around the nation.

Dr. Karen K. Florentine

Dr. Florentine is Superintendent of the Owen J. Roberts School District in Pennsylvania. She received her degree in Educational Leadership from Immaculata University. During her tenure as Superintendent, her district has received a number of recognitions for their work in technology integration in the classroom. Prior to her appointment as Superintendent, students of all ages participated in a number of WebQuests while she was Director of Curriculum in the same district. She has presented at state and national conferences on technology integration to improve teaching and learning.

Robert Frostick

Robert Frostick is an instructor at George Washington High School in Charleston, WV, where he teaches general science and astronomy. He has won numerous recognitions including a Christa McAuliffe Fellowship, and an Earthwatch Fellowship to study and work on a project in the Amazon basin. After meeting Dan at several conferences, he has kept in contact as he used several Quests in his class and provided feedback as missions were planned.

Kathy Hodges

Kathy Hodges graduated from Buena Vista College with a degree in elementary education. She has spent her entire teaching career at Glidden-Ralston School in west central Iowa teaching elementary science. During the last several years she has had the opportunity to be involved in a variety of educational endeavors. Examples include writing and editing curriculum for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, planning statewide educational conferences, presenting at state and midwest conferences, teaching outdoor education with IDNR personnel, and facilitating workshops for college students and educators.

Peter Manzelmann

Peter Manzelmann is a middle school teacher at Friends School in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. He currently teaches World Geography, World History, and Earth Science. Prior to Friends School, he taught for three years in the cloud forest at Monteverde, Costa Rica. Both he and his students have participated in Dan Buettner's Quests since 1997.

Cherie Neima

While going to school at the University of Minnesota, Cherie Neima began working in an American Indian community controlled school. Before the Internet was available to the public, her students telecommunicated information to people around the world. After nearly 20 years of teaching and fund raising, she took her experience to The Learning Company as a member of their educational software development teams. In 1998, she signed on to be part of Cyber Village Academy, a new charter school in St. Paul, MN. CVA gives computers to all 4th through 8th grade students who spend half their school time on campus and half at home involved in distance learning.

Dr. Cindy Pancer

Cindy Pancer, Ed.D., is the principal of a virtual charter school, Southern California Connections Academy. Connections Academy schools use technology to educate K-8 children in their own homes, across the United States. Dr. Pancer has invested her career in opening new ways for people to learn through designing technology-based instructional systems, most notably for Compass Learning, Futurekids, LeapFrog, Glencoe, McGraw-Hill, and other publishers.

Mary and Maureen Petricca

Mary and Maureen Petricca have both been teaching in the Schaumburg School District in Illinois for 14 years. Between the two of them they have taught students grades 1st through 6th. They have been following Dan and his amazing teams since the beginning and are excited that he is again back in action, ready to energize, educate, entertain and excite youth and their teachers! "We're looking forward to traveling with you via the Quests! It will be a life changing experience for us and our students."

Dr. Kent Steen

Kent Steen, Ph.D., is a teacher and administrator with Lincoln Public Schools in Nebraska. Along with his enthusiastic students, he has participated in nearly all of Dan's previous Quests, and is looking forward to introducing the powerful learning experience of the Quests to a new group of student Questers with the LifeQuest series. Steen is currently serving as President of the Nebraska Educational Technology Association.

Cheryl Vitali

Cheryl Vitali is currently a Reading Recovery teacher. She has been in education since 1977 spending the majority of this time working with special education students as a Resource Specialist. She pioneered Internet connections in her district in 1994 and has been collaborating with educators and professionals worldwide ever since. She received her master's in Educational Technology in 1999 from Fresno Pacific University. In 2000, she was the first recipient of the Internet Educator of the Year for Classroom Connect. She continues to work directly with students and shares her skills online, at conferences, and in numerous publications each year.