Sam Reed, III leads one of five high school cohorts comprising educators from different teaching settings across the country who are convening as a group to determine what specific resources to create.
Meet the Cohort
Samuel Reed, III, is an accomplished teacherpreneur and consultant with over twenty years of success spanning the education and workforce development sectors. Leveraging extensive experience in fundraising, R&D, and education innovation, he is a valuable advisor for individuals and organizations seeking to develop business or marketing plans aimed at growth. Reed can also assist large companies looking to enter the nonprofit sector or advocate for community causes. His broad areas of expertise include workforce training/education, grant writing, donor events, program development, community engagement, and recruitment. Reed has been teaching students to read, write, and “make” for over sixteen years, with a passion for arts in education, media literacy, and understanding youth culture. He was selected as a founding teacher at The U School, where he developed a competency-based curriculum. He has also held leadership positions with Sriii Consulting, the National Writing Project, and Logical Solution. Reed is a blogger for the Philadelphia Public School Notebook, and his work has been published in University of Pennsylvania GSE Perspective of Urban Education and Heinemann’s Digital Campus. He holds a BA from Cheyney State University, an MBA from Clark Atlanta University, and an EdM from Temple University.
Ariana DiMaio is a Delaware native with a bachelor’s degree in English education: literature and a minor in linguistics from West Chester University of Pennsylvania (WCUPA), as well as a master’s degree in English: literature, also from WCUPA. She has presented at the Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA) 2018 conference in Birmingham, England, as well as at other smaller, local conferences. She spent the first three years of her career teaching at a Catholic school in Wilmington before moving to her former high school, the Charter School of Wilmington, where she’s been for the past five years. When she’s not teaching or grading, she enjoys watching true crime documentaries, reading on her Kindle, biking with her husband, and traveling both domestically and internationally.
Stephen Ferguson is currently in his sixteenth year of teaching English at Cedar Creek High School in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, where he teaches freshman English and AP literature. He enjoys being the “book ends” of his students’ high school experience, watching their identities as readers and writers evolve and mature. In addition to teaching English, he is also a technology coach for his building. As part of this role, he researches emergent technologies and supports the staff of Cedar Creek with adopting them into their classrooms. He advocates for the intentional integration of AI, suggesting practices that empower students to use technology to clarify their thinking and deepen their analysis—all without sacrificing the “human heart” of their work. For him, innovation isn’t about replacing the writer; it’s about providing the tools that amplify a student’s unique voice and preserve their agency in an ever-changing world.
Kaleigh Landers is a secondary English as a new language/English as a second language teacher in Merrillville, Indiana, dedicated to designing equitable, real-world learning experiences for bi- and multilingual learners. She holds a bachelor’s degree in world languages from the University of Southern Mississippi and has conducted research at the intersection of linguistics, technology, and education. Her work centers on adapting complex learning resources—particularly primary sources—into accessible, visually supported, and inquiry-driven experiences that promote language development and critical thinking. She is especially interested in leveraging emerging artificial intelligence tools to enhance these approaches, using AI to scaffold comprehension, amplify student voice, and deepen engagement with authentic, primary source materials.
Rashmi Price is an English language arts and ACT Prep educator at Aberdeen High School, where she has been teaching literacy, writing instruction, and college readiness since 2020. A Teacher of the Year honoree at the school and district level, she pursues excellence and innovation in every aspect of her work. She served as a school board member for the Okolona Municipal School District. Price is considering pursuing a specialist degree in curriculum and instruction, a testament to her unwavering commitment to educational leadership and professional growth. She is passionate about developing rigorous, student-centered resources that reflect the highest standards of instructional quality. She is currently exploring the use of artificial intelligence in ELA instruction and how these emerging tools can better serve students. Price is honored to join the 2026 NCTE ELA AI Framework Project and looks forward to deepening her understanding while contributing to this vital national conversation.