Dear Friend,
Across the country, educators are helping K – 12 students learn how to engage respectfully with religion and religious identity.
This month, Tanenbaum welcomes the newest members of our Network of Inclusive Educators®, a national professional learning community designed to strengthen the skills and practices educators use to build classrooms where students of all religious and non-religious identities feel safe, heard, and respected. Our 2026–2027 cohort brings together six educators from across the country:
- Miao Sandel — Instilling Goodness and Developing Virtue School — Ukiah, CA
- Sarah Stone — Urban Assembly School for Leadership & Empowerment — Brooklyn, NY
- Alynn Parham — Jamestown High School — Williamsburg, VA
- Melissa Fainman — Adlai E. Stevenson High School — Lincolnshire, IL
- Mason Warner — Bexley Middle School — Bexley, OH
- Kerri Furtado — John J. Doran School — Fall River, MA
Supporting their learning as NIE mentors this year are Tim Hall, Ph.D. — Vance County, NC; Mary Houghtaling — Kittatinny Regional High School, Kittatinny, NJ; and Dolores Troy-Quinn — New York, NY.
This geographically diverse community includes educators working in public and private schools, in some of the country’s largest and most diverse communities as well as in smaller towns and communities. Over the next 11 months, the NIE will meet to learn with and from one another, strengthen pedagogical approaches, and develop resources that can support students beyond their own classrooms.
Welcome back to school,
Rev. Mark Fowler, CEO, and the Tanenbaum Education Team